Snippet #2409160

Captain Solid gave Marcus a long stare, her expression completely hidden behind the full-head helmet. In a moment of protocol breach, she reached out and grabbed the man by the scruff of his shirt and pulled him closer. Marcus would be able to barely see red irises peering at him through the visor.
"If you're coming on to me, Captain Marcus... don't. You couldn't handle me if you tried," she said huskily. Releasing him, she went back into a lockstep.
"Count yourself lucky if we don't meet on opposite ends of the next battle. Now get off my ship before I have to throw you off." Despite her harsh words, Solid did have something of an amused tone behind them. She also didn't wait for him to leave before turning on her heel and walking back down the corridor to one of the side rooms.


Once Marcus had returned to the rest of the group, Sliver nodded to the man and gestured for everyone to follow him. The man led them along a winding path between starships, large groups of mechanics pilots and marines, and a few large power or fuel modules busy preparing the ships.

Most of the ships in the hangar were fighter class, with a few being light freighters or shuttles. All of them, whether they had been initially designed for combat or not, were fit with a wide array of weaponry. A keen eye could see that most of them were primarily kinetic projectiles, with very few advanced laser or beam weapons.

The largest ship in the hangar was a light Frigate. While the Herald was a large vessel, Frigates were not in the design specs to be landed on it. And yet, there it was. It looked like a completely custom model, maybe even built in the ship itself. The front was all sleek lines and smooth curves The back was a crazed collection of blocky modules and harsh corners. Most of the weapons seemed to be fit to that area, forward facing or not. Whoever painted it must have been colorblind, or didn't care about the color of the ships it had been amalgamated from. Most of the front was red and black, with the rear being a deep purple with a few splotches of gray and blue.
It was the ship Sliver was heading towards.

"Martellus," he shouted over the din as they came closer. "This is Solid Three, we have your package! Where're you-" he paused, seeing a pair of legs struggling out from a hole in the hull.

Dropping out, the owner of the legs wheeled on the group with a severe expression on his face. He was a grizzled old man, lines of age and laughter thick on his face. His scruffy beard told a busy tale, matched only by his short, wild hair. Despite his age, he looked fit enough, with enough muscle to probably knock out a Marine if it came down to it.

The harsh stare broke when the man saw sliver. Breaking into a grin that fit the face much better, he marched forward and took the man's hand forcefully. "I don't know which of you bastards Solid Three is, but it's damned good to see your armor again! About time, too."
Light brown eyes flickered across those assembled, from the group of armored Marines, over Cor and Deirdre, and ending on Marcus.
The smile waned slightly seeing the motley collection. He looked them over again more discerningly before he gave Sliver an eye. Sliver just stared at him, shrugged slightly, and gestured around.
"These are the people we had time to get. We had a situation at Foundations that prevented us getting to your preferred clientele. I assure you, though, these folk will do just fine."

Martellus scoffed, waving dissmissively as he took a step back to look them over again. "Alright, give me some names and preferred duties. I'll start," he said gruffly.
"I am Chief Engineer Martellus. I see about keeping this wreck of a fleet flying strong, and maintain all the wargear for the Marine troops. Commander Teryn couldn't be here today, but you'll meet him soon. 'Till then, you can consider me your almost-leadership figure." A wry smile crossed his face.
Sliver took a step back out of the bulk of the group, to let them take center stage.