"Well I put the posters up. This better work..." Ju exhaled and slumped against one of the struts holding the Qi in place. She pulled out a sandalwood fan, unfurled it and began to fan herself, trying to escape the heavy heat. Every time she came here the heat always surprised her, dry heat or no, it was still far too hot for any normal human. Her face was dewed lightly with sweat, her black hair weighted, but not quite drenched with sweat. Her loose, white shirt was helping her avoid the heat, and she had it open to the air, exposing a simple black tank-top underneath. Her pants were similarly loose, the dark khaki fabric still airy and light. "Fuck this whole thing. I mean, at least we were close enough to limp into port, but fuck... this whole thing is just utter shit Xhava. This isn't just shit creek, I am adrift in an ocean of shit and I'm not even sure I have a raft, let alone a paddle."

"It's a port city miss Fu. If you can't find a crew here then you can't find one anywhere." Xhava stepped out of the shadows underneat the Qi, her small height clearly a boon in her business. Ju was never sure if Xhava had chosen to be a ship's mechanic because of her height, or if the universe had simply blessed the woman with her wide, short frame and a knack for engines. There was a smear of oil on Xhava's face, right above her dark blue eyes, where she had tried to brush away a lock of her red hair.

"Not that I'd blame them for avoiding you if you keep talking like that. I hope you didn't put 'Come join my pity party for a one-way ticket to mopesville' on them posters, miss Ju." Xhava's voice was gentle and joking, accented in a way that reminded Ju of rye whiskey and dust. "Look, I understand that you don't want to talk about what happened. Fair enough. But you're not gonna get out of whatever shit you're in by sitting on your ass and bitching about it."

"No, I'm gonna get out of it by paying you through the nose, right?" Ju smirked and followed Xhava without so much as an indication from the stout woman. She'd been here enough times to know the drill. The service wasn't cheap, but she needed it now more than ever. Xhava was hands-down the best at keeping the Qi's engine in order and no one could pick up tracking bugs like her. And right now, Ju needed that kind of skill.

Ju clasped Xhava's hand, her smile a little strained. They both knew this was going to be her last trip to the shipyard for a while.

"Gǎnxiè yīqiè..." Ju said, briefly contemplating hugging the woman before she thought better of it. She turned to see a man standing in the doorway. He was tall and foreboding, wearing a helmet that sent shivers down her spine. Alliance Intelligence. She knew that uniform well. Tai Hong had introduced her to a few Operatives. She couldn't tell what made her skin crawl more, remembering Tai, or this man showing up where she was unannounced. She swore quietly and turned to the man.

"Can I help you?" Xhava piped up, stepping between Ju and the Operative. "I was just about to close the shop for lunch, so if you have business you'd best hear it now."

The Operative tilted his head down slightly to peer at the somewhat short mechanic standing before him; it was unusual to see someone who wasn't showing any telltale signs of fear in his presence. When one put on the uniform of the Alliance Clandestine Operations Department, they had to shoulder the blame and fear that resulted from so many years of horrific acts.

This Operative, however, shouldered those no more.

"I wish to speak with Captain Ju. Pressing matters." The Operative's helmet had a vocoder built in to modify his voice to that of a flat, mechanical tone, both to hide the identity behind the soulless mask and to make him seem even more inhuman.

The mechanic nodded, and to the mild amusement of the Operative, the briefest paleness appeared on her face. This woman, who had been so fearless before, was now concerned for her friend. Alliance Operatives were trained to notice and understand these tiny signs; were this Operative still working for ACOD, this would be a tool for extortion. Luckily enough, he was not.

The Operative turned towards Captain Ju, who was eyeing him with concern, and indicated for her to follow him out of a nearby doorway; he noted that a ship was parked nearby. Most probably hers.

When they were out of earshot of any bystanders, most of which knew better than to interfere in Alliance business anyways, the Operative turned back to face the Captain.

"Captain Ju. I require your assistance."

"My assistance, huh?" Ju's hand was already resting on her pistol. She was on edge, clearly. Of all the days, it had to be today. Of course, that was just how it worked. Her eyes were sharp, darting across the scenery. She wanted to know where her escape options were in case this guy had been sent after her. She didn't want to use her gun in the shipyard, but she wasn't going to let this guy take her in.

"And what assistance can I offer you, Operative?" She asked, her voice tense and measured. This certainly wasn't how she planned to go down. She'd has visions of when the Alliance was going to come take her down. There was supposed to be more than one dude, at least ten. If she'd been honest she was hoping to have gone down in a space chase, maybe ram the Qi into one of the ships chasing her. But one dude in a dingy shipyard? That was so much less epic than she'd wanted.

The Operative noticed Captain Ju's hand slowly sliding towards a holster at her hip, but made little comment. He certainly hoped she wouldn't try anything less than sensible, but you never knew. Then again, if intelligence suggested she was the best blockade runner this side of known space, she would certainly have to be held to a higher standard.

"I require passage."

The words were simple enough, but it was the person delivering it which was sure to raise eyebrows. An Alliance Operative, asking to travel on the ship of some random captain in the middle of nowhere? Yet this Operative cared little for appearances; he simply needed an escape.

“Fixed...” Donny lets slip, the kiosk was being unresponsive, and playing hard to get. Finally though, his endeavor was at it's end, or so he believed. At least he didn't have to worry about 'card' problems again, and even then he hoped he didn't seem like the thuggish type.

“Space spiders...?” He recalls the Captain mentioning them, it caught his ears, but he didn't pay much attention to it; he simply assumed she kept pet spiders of the space variety somewhere aboard the ship.

Fortunately, the trek from Xhava's to the kiosk was relatively short a skip there, and a sudden dead leg here showed Donny back to the shipyard. His pace slowed to a drudge as he neared the door to Xhava's side office. It was lunchtime, or just about; however, all that bothered him didn't arise until he was about to enter, “I better not be getting my fuckin' hopes up for nothin...” He gripes to himself before entering the office, “Xhava? I'm back.” He called out, only to see the female mechanical genius pale as a ghost.

A shiver trickled down his back, anything that could make the color fade from this tough woman's face definitely meant he should be cautious. “Xhava wha-” About to concern himself with the matter, the not so ladylike lady quiets him with a 'Shush'. Instead of protesting he just stood there, wondering where the Captain was. The whole situation made him nervously play with the card he had gone through so much trouble to change, just for this opportunity. Negative thoughts raced through his mind, all of which too fast to truly ponder on.

Xhava turned to the young man, “Sorry about that, Kid. Just some hairy business is going down. You fix your information card?” Donny nods, “Good. If you want, just sit down for a bit. She shouldn't be too long.” Another nod. Sit down, he questions inwardly, sit down and go insane you mean? He simply does as he's told. The heat of the office wears at him, combined with the fact that everything seems so odd and the bad feeling he has in his gut. Just so much shit.

OOC: quick time-skip for Monolith's interview

"Oh right, the Space Spiders." Ju stepped back into Xhava's main shop, seeing Xhava relax significantly as she saw the Operative without his helmet on. Ju agreed, those things were disquieting. She turned to Charles. "The Qi has Space Spiders, a whole bunch of them, especially under the tiles of the upper Starboard cargo hold. You'll want to avoid that spot, space spiders are pretty creepy. In fact, might be best if you just avoided the cargo bays entirely." Ju's face was lit with a crooked little smirk.

"Now you two are the only ones here so far, so get introduced while we see if anyone who can actually help me pilot this rig is going to show up." Ju leaned against the doorway, looking outside to see if anyone was coming down the street for her. Passengers were fine, but she needed a crew. Tai had supplied the majority of her crew so now she needed a whole new crew. She'd barely been able to get the Qi here by herself, she was not a pilot, not an engineer and she was far from being both at the same time.

OOC: Trying to figure out how to format second picture correctly into profile


Charles raised an eyebrow at the mention of the spiders. He had, of course, encountered less-than-friendly animals in the course of his former work, but none on the ship he was going to be residing on. Only a mild concern, however; how bad could space spiders be? He had no idea.

Noticing the young man standing nearby, giving him a look as any rational-minded person seeing an unmasked Alliance Operative would, Charles strode over, the faintest hints of a smirk touching the corners of his mouth. Depositing his dismounted mask on a nearby table, he extended a hand for a handshake.

"To everyone else, I am Agent Monolith. To you and the Captain, just Charles." Fine, so the greeting was a bit cryptic; but even when unmasked, that was the appearance Charles preffered. Drawing the line between fear and trust was the best way to acquire information, for everyone would bend to one or the other. It was something that had been drilled in since day one; by now a natural thought process.

Ju watched as Xhava took Donny off for a quick run-down of the basics of engine tech. Not a thing she would normally do, but Xhava had a way of knowing when two people needed to be left alone for a bit. The woman's ability to pick up on undercurrents like that was uncanny.

"I've had the Qi swept for bugs by a few different people, including myself." She explained, her eyes still fixed out on the street. "But I have...reason to suspect that there might be highly sophisticated bugs, specifically Alliance Intelligence bugs." She looked at him, her face steely. "So I'll admit it's a little convenient that an Alliance Intelligence Officer shows up asking for nothing more than passage." Her grey eyes flashed as she looked Monolith up and down. She wasn't about to spill something like this to Donny, but she needed to be sure that Charles knew. He probably knew most of this already. Alliance intelligence was supposed to know about these things before they happened. And based on the number of soldiers that had been waiting for her, a lot of people had known about this.

"But if you're really Alliance Intel, I suspect you already know about that. I'd bet you've all heard about Wu Tai Hong, yeah? Niáng thought he'd secure a cushy position by bringing down a smuggling ring run by a powerful family's daughter." She stepped over to Monolith, each footfall kicking up a bit of dust as she closed the distance between them. She didn't stop until she was barely a foot away from him, her eyes still locked on him. "But he made a mistake. He didn't expect a delicate, spoiled little rich girl to bloody her hands to get away from him. He was wrong." For a brief second her eyes flickered away from his, the tiniest flicker of pain flashing on her face before returning to her cold, hard stare.

"So I want to be clear, Charles. I am not bluffing. I'm not boasting, and I'm not posturing." She took a step back, releasing the tension in the room. She turned on her heel and returned to the doorway without another word.

Charles frowned but said nothing. He knew very well how dangerous rich girls could be; he had had to shoot one himself but a few years ago when she tried to play rebel by sending out less-than-public information to her insurrectionist lover. It was a job done like any other: quickly and without fuss, made to look like a mugging gone wrong. Still, she had put up a significant fight and made sure to at least bloody Charles's boots before she finally went down, two MagSnub rounds in her chest.

"You can be assured that there are no bugs on your ship." Charles pulled out his PDA and pressed a few buttons once more, changing the display to that of lines and lines of text, and twisted it to be visible to Ju.

"You don't really think I would attempt to escape without first downloading as much of the data on the servers as possible? Contained within this PDA is a record of every single bugged ship this side of the galaxy. Your dear Qi is not on it. If your ship is bugged, it is not by ACOD."

Charles put his PDA back into his coat and crossed his arms, frowning.

"Look kid, Engines aren't exactly something you can learn in an hour. I couldn't even teach you how to tell the difference between a Pulse drive and a reaction thruster in that time.

"The Qi has both, in case you're wondering. She uses her hydrogen-burning reaction drive when she's within orbit of a planet, but she can cross some great distances with her pulse drive. Damn nice pulse drive on her too, can break 10 G's if you know how to push her juuuust right. It's a modified Grav drive obviously, but since her reaction drive can be used outside of atmo, gives her a decent ability to maneuver in The Black.

"The real gold on the Qi? She has a second, regular Grav drive on her. Shut down her Pulse drive, flip on the Grav, little nudge from the thrusters and this girl can turn on a dime. Most ships, you get'em in The Black, point 'em in the right direction, flick on the Pulse and go. But the Qi's a military-grade model, costs something dear to get two drives on a ship, least of all two drives that won't weigh her down too much." Xhava paused and glanced back at Donny, looking him up and down for the first time. If his face hadn't given it away, those clean shoes and that neat little bag on his shoulder would have done the deed for him. This kid had no idea what she was talking about.

"Shit boy, don't let me get off on a tangent like that. I'll spend days telling you nothing you can use. Sure you'd know how to push a military engine past the 80% power-limit most people don't know they have, but you wouldn't even know how to refuel the damn thing." Xhava shook her head and lead the boy over to a few large, pressurized canisters. "This here's gonna be the fuel for most of the reaction drives, If Ju Min starts calling her the Qi-Gu, you should probably get another one of these pulled out. They'll be near--well--they'll be in the Weapon's locker if I know Ju Min at all."

"The ship's other processes run off good-ol fusion drives, the Qi's well-stocked for that so you shouldn't have to worry. If something goes wrong with the fusion drive, best to just bend over and kiss your ass good-bye." Xhava laughed heartily. Fusion-drives were a fact of life, they powered just about everything anyone had. They were so stable that meltdowns were as far in the past as Earth-That-Was.

"Fundamentally though, your best bet is to just pay attention. Listen to the engines, each one's going to sound different,
and each one's going to purr when she hits her stride. Listen to those sounds and learn them well. If there's something wrong, you'll hear it just as soon or sooner than you'll feel it. Keep your eyes on her engine too, loose screws, leaking fluids, they're just as bad on a ship as they are on a man." Xhava peppered in a few more chuckles there, her eyes sparkling as she went on. Engines were clearly her passion, explaining them to this kid was just a chance to rifle through her own vast knowledge on the ships. It didn't hurt that the Qi was one of the nicest ships she'd ever been able to get her hands on.

"Now then, you wanna see how to take the Qi up to her real speed?" She grinned widely, clearly eager to teach the kid one of her favorite little tricks. Military engines had their own little quirks to keep them under-performing when they were given to Civvies. But if you knew how to work around those blocks, well, that's what kept her in business.

OOC: Ack, so many words... that's what I get for reading the book while I'm writing this. Apologies for the horrifying exposition dump.

Ju blinked at Charles. Her face went slack, her jaw hanging very slightly open. She had been so sure. But suddenly it all made sense. If she'd been tracked she'd have been arrested as soon as she hit port. And yet she'd been in port for two days without so much as a side look from even the custom's officers. Was it possible? Had Tai Hong really been that arrogant? Would he have really held the information back and relied on his own bugs?

"I don't know whether to be glad he's that stupid, or angry that I was fooled by someone that stupid." She sighed and relaxed against the doorframe. "He would do it too. He was so sure. He was so completely certain that I'd wilt." Her shoulders began to shake, then her whole torso started quivering. Then the soft sound of her laughter began to emerge from her lips.

"He was so sure, he--he hid one of the bugs in a little teddy-bear he gave me." She threw her head back, running a hand through her hair. "Shiiiit, is it really that simple?" She shook her head. She wasn't sure if she could believe all of it, but it felt good to let that tension off her chest for a bit. If he was going to kill her he'd have done it by now, if this was a con, it was going to be a long one, and she'd gotten out of one of those already. Maybe everything was going to be okay after all.

Carles listened to Ju's exposition and gave a curt nod at the end. "When we get to the...", he trailed off, making sure no one else was around, and then continued. "...station, it should have some rather powerful processing machinery aboard. If you give me any bugs you find, I can wire them up to the computers and trace them back to their receiever. We'll be able to find where your trackers are and even disable their bugs remotely."

Charles shifted slightly, a rare smile touching his face. "Is that adequate payment?"

Ju returned the smile, visibly relaxing. "That could be fun. Not sure I ever want to see his face, but maybe we could send a nice little dog-shit bouquet to him." She chuckled. "Would be peace of mind at least, I guess that's worth the flight to..." She paused and her brow furrowed.

"So is this just an 'off this rock' sort of trip; or am I taking you somewhere specific? " She'd had both types of fares, some people just needed to go anywhere with a long enough signal delay that they'd have a chance to escape. Neither would be a problem, really, she didn't have any new jobs lined up for the Qi, and any of her old contacts were suspect now, so it wasn't like she had any specific destination she was going to.

With business returning, the smile dropped off of Charles's face as quickly as it had appeared.

"I will report on that in orbit. Besides, it almost certainly is of little consequence until we've scavenged the station."

The reluctance caused a quick raising of Ju's eyebrow. That didn't bode well and she could feel a little twinge of doubt in the back of her mind. This could be regular caution, not wanting to be overheard in a busy and distrusted marketplace, but it could also be an easy way to avoid feeding her too much information until he was already on-board. Fine, she could work with that. The Qi was a military vessel after all. It had ways of dealing with mutiny. She'd made that part of the deal clear enough to Charles by now. If he was Alliance intelligence, he knew how situations like this would work. They were both going to sit with an undercurrent of distrust until he either crossed her, or they both owed each other enough that it was no longer worth it.

"Understood." She replied and glanced out into the shipyard. Xhava was busily ranting away to Donny, poor boy hadn't realized what he was getting into when he asked her for 'the basics'. The difference in atmo and vacuum performance for various forms of reaction drives was basic to Xhava.

"So did you still want that tour?"

Charles nodded, reaching to clamp on his mask again. He did not desire for anyone outside the room of the shipyard to see him, otherwise attention would certainly be drawn.

Hearing the solid click and sigh of pressure adjustement, as well as a screen popping up with streams of information, was a comfortable sensation. Inside this helmet, he was Monolith; a massive, imposing figure which struck fear into all. The mask alone was a symbol of power, of an instillment of fear. And as he knew very well, fear, above all else, razed great empires like no other weapon ever could.

The mechanical voice was yet another comfort as he spoke. "That would be desireable. I may be a former Operative, but to this day I am one who has remained firmly grounded."

Zasha Venediktov took a deep breath as she walked up to the ship, holding everything she owned in two packs. One, on her back, carried her personal items, and the second bigger bag she carried in her right hand held her tool box and all kinds of spare parts she'd picked up in her journeys. Even if they didn't fit the ship perfectly, most of them could be used to jerry-rig something until the proper part was found. Any time she had a bit of extra money and a good market, she picked up a thing or two, in faith that she would eventually have a place for it. Her brown leather pants and tall boots were good for resisting wear and tear, but in the heat she'd taken off the matching leather jacket to reveal a white tank top. She had overalls in her bag for when she actually had to get into the engine and get dirty, but otherwise she liked to present a tough front, and baggy overalls made her look even smaller and cuter than she was, not a good first impression for a new captain. Her guns were worn on her thighs, just to ensure that no one in this place thought that her size made her defenseless.

Her last job had lasted a record length for her, over a year, but as usual something had gone wrong. The Alliance hadn't broken up the crew, nothing so dangerous, but personality conflicts and the lack of paying jobs had driven everyone apart. She wasn't too worried about finding a job, usually someone wanted an engineer, but not everyone would hire a girl who looked like space could break her. Besides, she was getting uneasy about being planetbound, it'd been a week since she'd landed from her last job, and it wasn't as if she had a bunch of money in a bank somewhere to keep her going. No, she needed a job, and even if it didn't pay much beyond food and board it could keep her learning and moving around the 'Verse. She'd heard this ship was hiring, and hadn't heard much bad about its Captain--or much information at all, really--so it was worth a shot.

"Excuse me," she said in a faint Russian accent. "Is this ship looking for an engineer? I heard you might be hiring on a new crew."

"This'll be your first time out of Atmo?" Ju Min could see her expression, a mix of incredulity and surprise, in Monolith's helmet. She had taken a few people on their first time off-planet, and it was always an adventure. "Lucky me. I'll make sure to get you a bucket in case you get sick when we hit the Black." She flashed him a smirk as she began to lead him to the docked Qi.

Artificial gravity had made the transition much easier for new fliers, but there was always that one person whose body reacted badly to the artificial gravity. Apparently there was some sort of minor difference somewhere in the inner ear that could pick up on the artificial-ness and would send the body into a panic. The last medic she'd known explained that it was an attempt by the body to purge possible poisons or hallucinogens, which the dry-heaving passenger had found humorous, in between retches.

She chuckled to herself at the memory, stopping as a soft voice tinted with the weight and smoothness of a Russian accent. She turned to see a svelte girl with long, dark hair. Ju's eye quickly picked up the girl's guns strapped to her thighs. An interesting choice, to display arms so outwardly. Whoever this girl is, she had some steel to her, even if it was just the stuff on her legs. More interesting to Ju Min though, was what the girl was asking. An actual engineer. Someone who was qualified to work with the Qi's engines who would stay on the ship. The ship deserved such attention, but she'd never been able to give it that.

Just how desperate was this girl that she was willing to take on a job like this?

"We're hiring alright. And an engineer would be damn appreciated. You're interested?"

Having walked around the outside of the ship, Montgomery picked up his footlocker and made his way to the cargo ram were Ju was. "Ma'am, reporting..." He trailed off as he spotted the all to familiar look of an Alliance operative. He quickly throw his hood up, "Were can I throw my gear?" As he said that he took an other quick look at the operative, then looked back at Ju. "Then if you don't mind I would like to start to familiarize myself with the ship and her systems." He set his footlocker down and slowly clicked off the safety on one of his pistols then picked up his footlocker again. "That is if we're not expecting trouble ma'am." He said as he nodded in the direction of the operative.

"I would be," she replied, "assuming your ship is heading out of dock soon. I'm not good on land, and there are other ships that might be coming in if I'm not to your liking."

And, if she stayed planetbound too long, the odds went up that someone would find her that she'd rather not see. As well as the unfortunate fact that most ships would only hire girls her age for assistants, or worse, and very few would chance giving her the position as main engineer. If this Captain was willing to give her that power, she'd stick around. If not, it would just be another temporary stop as she worked her way up to the big ships with better money. Money wasn't everything, but it did come in handy, especially if you had to hide from the Alliance double quick.

"I'm a good engineer, and even though I look young I've been doing this for years," she said urgently as her blue-grey eyes looked into the Captain's. "I don't cause trouble as long as no one gives me any, and I'm good in a fight. If you're looking for someone to have main responsibility for your engines and mechanics, I'm the engineer for you."

Were he not wearing the helmet, the normally composed Operative would have spoken in an embarrassed tone. "Oh, yes, I have been on ships before... I'm just not very good with-"

He paused as he noticed the woman who had just walked up to engage the Captain in conversation, ignoring him entirely. She appeared to be an engineer interested in working on the ship; did the Captain really have such an understaffed ship?

As they talked on, another man appeared, also requesting employment, though as a pilot. This one eyed Monolith, as he outwardly appeared, with marked suspicion, but he waved it down.

"I am simply a traveler. Have no concern about the attire."

Ju Min nodded to Zasha. She too was anxious to get off the ground. Despite what Charles had said, she was still nervous about being tailed. Se should have lost them all more than a week ago, but the risk still made her uneasy.
"We'll be heading out as soon as the medic gets here." She assured her. "I thought I'd have to take on the engines, which I'm not great with, so it's good you showed up." She turned to see Montgomery eying Monolith with suspicious eyes. Her eyes lit up briefly with a hint of mischief.

"I don't think we have any problems, Monty, this is Monolith. We'll be taking the helmet off once we hit the skies." She grinned wickedly, enjoying the feelings not only of having a crew again, but watching the two Alliance run-aways rubbing up against each other. Yes, this was lucky indeed, two Alliance fugitives might weigh in her favor if she had the need. And yet, the doubt tickled in the back of her mind, was this all too lucky? "We'll just make sure he's got a bucket on him. I don't imagine those helmets react well to vomit."

Xhava had been right. She had doubted she'd get this fortunate, to go from an empty ship to a solid crew overnight. Well--not quite an empty ship...

The war had left him on this rock without a home, without a family, and without a pot to piss in, but over the few years since he'd managed to scratch out a decent little life for himself. He had made associates, and friends, and had even found the occasional love interest. He was on a first name basis with all of the local bartenders and a few store clerks in the shopping district. He'd even managed to get used to the heat ( a feat he had thought impossible at first).

Things were changing though.

It seemed like a penchant for strict overbearing rule of law was radiating outwards from the core planets, like some sort of infectious disease. This scourge was washing over more and more of the outlying rocks. It had finally come knocking on his door. Local law enforcement had been cracking down on narcotic sales pretty hard, generally making his life hell. He knew better than anyone how futile it was to fight against such things. The better option was to pack up and move on, and that sentiment is what led Corvin to Xhava's Shipyard on one relatively cool afternoon. After all, the Alliance could own every rock in the 'Verse but free men still had a strong hold: the space in between.

Corvin was wearing a pair of cargo shorts, a tank top, and a dufflebag slung over his shoulder containing the remainder of his belongings. The butt of a gun hung under one arm, secured safely in his shoulder holster. A rifle was strapped to his back, the muzzle peaking over his opposite shoulder. A cigarette protruded from his lips, bobbing slightly with every step. As he rounded the corner the Qi, her captain, and her crew came into view. He stopped the moment he saw the operative.

An operative in full gear just standing around? Hanging out? Has this planet really gone to shit THAT quickly? Corvin knew how operatives operated. They weren't dispatched to write parking tickets. If he had been there on assignment blood would already be spraying... so what was he doing? With his free hand Corvin unlatched the safeguard on his holster so he could pull his pistol in a moment's notice if needed.

He made his way towards Ju, the only one there he'd been previously antiquated with. He greeted everyone not wearing operative's gear, with a nod or -- in the case of the young woman with guns holstered on her thighs -- a wink, on his way to the captain. "Looks like a fine crew," he said once he had reached Ju. It wasn't until he had said the words that the realization hit him. "Please don't tell me we're flying with Robocop over there."

Monty smiled under his balaclava at being called Monty and at the image of an operative vomiting in his own helmet. He nodded at Ju, "As you say ma'am." He then looked at Monolith, "Operative." then turns back to Ju, "I'll secure my gear here for now if that's ok?" As he finished saying that, a man wearing a pair of cargo shorts, a tank top, and a dufflebag slung over his shoulder walks up to them. The man nodded at Monty who respectfully returned the nod. After which he set his footlocker off to the side in the cargo hold and walked back to the group. He stood a little ways a way from the group so not to crowed the captain, awaiting orders or at less being dismissed.

"I'll get aboard then, start getting settled in and acquainted with the engines." She held out her hand for the captain to shake. Nodding politely to the other crew, and ignoring the wink entirely, she headed to the interior of the ship. It was always best not to encourage anything of that kind until she knew what to expect from the rest of the crew. Zasha had, on more than one occasion, dealt with men who thought that just because she was small and female that she was easy prey. With a female captain that might not be an issue as much, but she didn't want to rock the boat before everyone was even acquainted yet. Best to be polite but dismissive until she had taken everyone's measure, unless of course someone pissed her off while she was trying to be professional. They already had an Operative aboard judging from that helmet and uniform, as well as a few others that looked like they could handle themselves--including the captain--so she also didn't want to make a bad impression.

The engines were about as she expected, for the ship's class and model. She'd thrown her things down in a corner of the cargo bay, if this ship was like any other the captain would assign bunks according to whim or would make it first come first serve. Zasha wasn't picky about quarters as long as she had a bit of space for her parts, so she preferred to wait to be assigned or simply shoved into whatever small area was left. She'd taken this tack in most of the ships she'd been on, and it had proved to be the best way to keep from getting into a fight with an idiot about something meaningless like an inevitably cramped space on a cramped ship. If she had to kick ass and take names, she preferred to do it about something more important.

Zasha took a small tool belt out of her pack and slung it around her waist. This one just carried the basics, general wrenches and bolts, that sort of thing, for the kind of basic maintenance work she'd be likely doing on a daily basis to keep the engines running as smoothly as they could possibly be. In the Black, there were no margins of error. There was a thin hull and these engines keeping the crew from certain death, and she didn't want to be the one that failed. She checked the drives carefully, noting that they'd been maintained well and everything looked like it didn't have any long-term issues. True, she wasn't exactly taking an in-depth examination, but the engines indicated that the captain and current crew were at least competent. Later she would take readings off everything, note what was and wasn't running at optimum levels, but for now she wanted to just cover the bases. Even though it looked like that had already been done. These were her engines now, and her responsibility. She would leave nothing to chance.

Ju Min stepped on to the ladder that lead to the Qi’s main air lock. The door opened as soon as she hit the last step. She smiled to herself, the ship was keyed into her biological signature, which meant the ship responded to her in ways that were always satisfying. Nothing made her feel like more of a bad-ass space captain than the ship’s doors opening for her but no one else. She turned to the others and ushered them onboard.

"Welcome aboard the Qi." Her body visibly relaxed. It felt good to be back on her ship. This place had been her home for so long now, and now she had a crew for her again. The ship lit up as she stepped inside, revealing a steely-blue interior. The main-deck airlock opened between the medical bay and the starboard cargo-bay, it didn’t show off the bulk of the ship, but the clean lines and brushed steel made the ship’s military lineage clear.

"We’re on the main deck here. Most of what you’ll need is here. You can store your gear in the cargo bay there." She gestured to the first set of doors on her left. "Don’t store anything in the port-side bay, the one behind the engine room. There’s Space Spiders in there. Just, don’t go in there okay? Nothing but Space Spiders in there." She noticed Monty had already started moving his gear into the cargo bay. That was good, while the others were settling in she’d have to show him the Bridge. She also saw Zasha make a bee-line for the engine-room. She seemed eager to start work, a good sign.

"The lower cargo bay is down that ramp. The lower deck is for the ship’s cargo only. Unless you’re loading or unloading, there’s no reason for you to be there. The Space Spiders will find you and I won’t be held responsible for what happens if they catch you. " She took a few steps into the interior, letting the others come further onboard. As more people stepped on board more of the ship lit up.

"There’s the gym, it’s not much but there’s some gear there to keep your bone density up if we’re spending a long time in The Black. Bathrooms are here behind the med bay. You’ve got one shower room and two lavatory rooms, learn to share. I have my own facilities." She stopped at the air-lock lift that lead to the second floor. "Communal dining hall and bunks are on the bow-side from here, should be enough bunks for all of you, two people to a room if you can. If not, find somewhere else to sleep, I’m not picky. Up this lift is the Bridge and my cabin. This is an air-lock lift so it’s not fast. If you need to contact me or the bridge, there’s a communication panel here. "

"We’re stocked alright, but we should be getting more supplies soon." She glanced over at Charles. "And that’s the tour, any questions?"