Sailing in the Sky

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egglegg

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It was the middle of the day and the sun was beating down onto the busy spaceport. The port its self was loud, the air polluted with the noise of all manner of languages, and the rumbling of ship engines. A pungent scent of oil and fuel hung heavily in the air, not seeming to bother anyone. There were merchants hawking their wares everywhere there was enough space to do so, some were selling common items and necessities like food, and others seemed to be selling rare, expensive items.

The place was packed full of people, both alien and human alike, all hurriedly attending to their own business. Most were crew members off of the various ships that were at rest in the port, but some seemed to merely live in the area and had desired to go for a walk. It was a sight to see when a ship pulled in or went on its way out into space and so many people waited around just to watch.

Dispersed among this diverse crowd, were the newest recruits for the ship, The Black King, all making their way towards the ship based on the directions and description of the ship they had been given when they were notified of their applications acceptance.
 
Captain Belarus
The Sun's Edge Bar

The Ortos Hub was the largest of the independent stations in the western Orion arm of the galaxy, so named because it was the center of a chain of smaller installations orbiting the uninhabitable planet of Ortan. The Hub served as the heart of trade in the region, and was often the staging ground for interstellar caravans heading into the Perseus and Sagittarius arms. It was an incredibly wealthy station, but also an incredibly crowded one considering its function. Races of every shape and size were packed into its interior, the majority of them were selling goods or seeking work. It was for the latter crowd that the Vixen, or the Black King depending on whom you asked, had docked with the station. Auriana had arrived several days prior, and upon her arrival she had uploaded a series of advertisements to the local quantum network which detailed the crew positions she was seeking to fill.

The ship had only recently come under her command, so she had yet to find experienced officers to help manage the vessel. Considering that a population of eleven million called the Hub home, the Captain was sure she would find a serviceable crew before leaving. Applicants had come and gone, but none of them had satisfied her requirements. She was hoping that would change soon, or else she would have to change her standards. The notices she had posted directed any interested applicants to come to the Sun's Edge, a restaurant and bar established on the docks, during her available hours. It was there, at a table in the center of the room, that they would be reviewed. Auriana didn't actually want them on her ship until they were hired. The crowd at the bar was relatively thin at this time of day, and so she had a fair deal of room around the table where she sipped a drink.
 
Marcus looked around until he came across the name of the bar that he was told to look for. Walking in, he already decided he didnt like it... it was too crowded... and he wasnt too fond of people. However he sucked it up and proceeded inside, looking for the center of the room until he saw it clear as day, with the woman he assumed to be the captain. He pocketed the holo-device that he was using as a guide to the bar as he made his way to the table and cleared his throat.

"I'm guessing you're the captain? Captain Belarus rights? I'm Marcus, Marcus Holland. I was wanting to see if you were in need of an engineer by chance?"
 
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Nhills Feng stood in the tiny cabin of his scout class ship, endearingly named 'The Skiff'. The ship was just barely big enough to hold him and his extensive collection of music and audio equipment, he only hoped the job he was looking to get hired on too had room for his modestly sized ship, if not his collection at the very least. Feng began to whistle a tune as he left his ship to head towards the bar where the interview had been scheduled, he was on the look out for a chick, probably one with a commanding presence.

By the time Feng reached the bar the whistle had turned into the full song, which he was singing just a hair above the ambiet chatter around the bar. "Well he doesn't look a thing like jeeesus but he-talks like a gentleman-like you im-." Feng was cut short when he noticed, as he imagined, a commanding looking woman sitting at a table talking to another human, most likely a potential hire. Feng slid over quickly and pulled up chair directly next to the human sitting across from what he presumed was the captain. He tilted his chin upwards quickly at the guy "Sup' kid?" He said, barely a question as he instantly looked towards the captain not giving him a chance to reply. "My name is Nhills Feng, maybe you've heard of me, maybe not-doesn't matter, I think I could be an asset to your crew." He spoke quickly and very sure of himself, wanting to jump straight to the point.
 
Mari 4 approached the Sun's Edge bar determined and with a focus.

She arrived at the bar and found... a crowd.

She sighed, and stood in line. Part of a massive horde, she thought.

Like her origin.

Her thoughts ran to her sisterhood... what seemed like hundreds of clones who looked just like Mari 4.

Her eyes began to get wet, though, as she wondered about her "family", and she changed the topic in her mind.

She smiled at the irony that this task was also like her past... breaking free of the crowd.

"For my family" she said softly to herself as she drew closer to the center of the bar.
 
Crius checked and double checked the name of the bar as he made his way towards it, wanting to make very sure that he was going to the right place. He was quite anxious to get the job after all.
"The Sun's Edge." He muttered under his breath, repeating it over and over again in his mind so he hopefully wouldn't have to check it again. It felt strange to do so and soon the repetition caused the words to lose their meaning and his thoughts wandered to other things. He tried to imagine what sorts of questions the captain might ask him, and what would be the best way to answer them.

Soon enough Crius arrived outside of the Sun's Edge and stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath before he entered. Once inside he removed his sunglasses, and was surprised to find the place was rather empty. Though he supposed that the middle of the day wasn't a very popular time to be drinking. He very quickly found the Captain and smiled at her, waving slightly as he approached. "Hello, Captain Belarus, right?"
 
"HEL-" A sudden scream rose above the chatter of the crowd but was cut short and drowned again in a instant. A small figure, hidden under a purple hood, dashed away from the source of the scream on light little feet. The cloak passed though crowd, his small size keeping him from being noticed as he quickly entered a alley. King took down his hood and held out a paw for his payment from the tall alien in the alley. "Thanks." The towering creature whispered as he reached down and gave King the cash. "If it's counterfeit, you die next." Was the only response he got before King dashed off. He wiped blood off his blade (under the cloak of course) and made his way to The Sun's Edge. Now King wasn't a sociable person, but the call of profit and adventure was irresistible to him. He entered the bar and located the woman that was obviously the captain he was looking for. He took a seat and introduced his self. "King Fenian, mercenary."
 
So, it was Mari 4 next up.

"Greetings, Captain," she introduced as she handed her application. "I'm Mari 4, graduate of the Japan Self Defense Force Academy and a four year veteran as an Aeronautical Engineering officer."

She paused for a few seconds, then continued. "What my application won't show you is my ability to perform under pressure, under fire. In the academy we were regularly put under pressure to lead, and to follow leadership. As a military officer, I've led teams and larger personnel units to successful mission accomplishment under pressure of time, resources, and personnel limitations."

"I know I've submitted an application with intent to fill the engineer position," she added, "but in the military I have learned the skill and value of flexibility. I've served non-engineering roles, and learned quickly through leadership or from experienced subordinates to function and excel as a leader and follower."

She concluded, "if you see me fit to take another position, I will do so with hesitation. I know there are many applicants here and your time and attention as Captain is valuable so I'll keep it short: you won't find many people with my skillset."

Ironic considering she was a clone among hundreds, if not thousands.
 
The Captain straightened herself in her seat, throwing her long dark hair back over her shoulders and cracking her sore neck as she readied herself to receive her next applicant. From his appearance she deduced he wasn't a bridge officer, and she highly doubted he worked in the medical profession with the casual aura about him. He also couldn't be a soldier, he lacked a certain level of killer instinct that a fellow soldier like herself would have picked up on immediately. So she imagined he was either an engineer or maintenance staff.

"I'm guessing you're the captain? Captain Belarus rights? I'm Marcus, Marcus Holland. I was wanting to see if you were in need of an engineer by chance?" as expected, he seemed to be the first candidate for engineer today. He seemed nervous, that meant it was likely he lacked experience.

"Of course, have a seat Holland," she said, gesturing to one of several empty chairs in front of her. "Can you tell me about your qualifications for the position? And any prior work experience you have?" she asked, authoritative but not impolite. Then, before he could respond, another applicant, this time a Slalin if she wasn't mistaken, interrupted him and took a seat.

"Sup' kid?" He said, only briefly acknowledging Holland before turning to her. "My name is Nhills Feng, maybe you've heard of me, maybe not-doesn't matter, I think I could be an asset to your crew." Direct, confident, but he failed to provide some valuable information and he didn't seem overly respectful.

"Yes, it does matter," she asserted. "Why might I have heard of you, are there any outstanding warrants for your arrest, and what service are you looking to provide?" she asked, making a mental note to perform a discreet search for Nhills Feng on the quantum network.

"Hello, Captain Belarus, right?" yet another applicant asked, it was nothing she wasn't used to. Many other applicants over the last couple of days had arrived in clusters and she had little problem dealing with more than one at once, she had hired many of them but hopefully these applicants were coming to fill open positions.

"Yes, Captain Auriana Belarus, and what position are you seeking to fill?" she asked, turning at once to see the head of a Minga pop up over the edge of a table. King Fenian? She hoped that former was a name and not a title of some sort. "Straightforward, I appreciate that. How extensive is your personal experience, and I expect all of you to forward references to me via the account information provided on the advertisement," she raised her voice for the last part, making sure all of the applicant heard her.

The final of the cluster of applicants was an unassuming young woman who, by far, made the best introduction of the group. She seemed resolute, intelligent and was already considering how she could use her experience for the benefit of the ship outside of the parameters of the position she was applying for. That meant she was ambitious and viewed this as a job with a potential for advancement, she could use someone with that sort of drive.

"Japan? That makes you Earth-born, there aren't many of those who venture this far out without employment," she said, considering. "Alright, you're accepted. You can either way here, or report to the Vixen's acting X-O. I assume your experience extends to weapons control and management? If so, even better, but…if there is anything I should know about up front I expect you to inform me," she finished, turning her gaze on the rest of the recruits. "Now, I expect more information from all of you. One by one, and no interrupting."
 
Crius raised his eyebrows at the introduction Mari 4 gave and suddenly felt under qualified. Luckily he wasn't applying to the same sort of position as she was. He took up a seat at the table and after a few moments of silence he decided to offer up his own credentials.

"Well, my name is Dr. Crius Derson, I currently work at a rather successful office as the main physician. I've been practicing there for about, oh, five or six years now. Which might not seem like a long time, but I assure you that it is more than long enough for one to be sufficiently experienced." He gave a friendly smile and handed over his application, trying to hide the fact that his hand was shaking as he did so. He'd never been fond of public speaking and the small crowd of applicants that were listening made him nervous.

He was careful to watch the captain's face as she looked it over, hoping to get a read on how she felt about him before she said anything. He wouldn't want to seem overly disappointed if he was rejected.
 
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Feng looked around quickly as applicants seemed to show up one after the other, eager for work, not that he blamed them he was one of them. He did a cursory glance at them all, but before he could really think about them his attention was brought back to the captain. "Some people have referred to me as 'Roaring Feng'." He said in response to her first question, His nickname had earned him a job before in bounty hunting circles, but this was a little different. "I'll forward you the name of the guy who gave me that name, he runs a pretty respectable mercenary group.' Feng said to reassure the captain.

"As for the position on the ship, Asset protection." Feng threw this title around a lot to make him sound like he wasn't just a hired gun. "I've fired everything from antique firearms to a completely organic gun that shoots parasitic lifeforms." Feng continuned, speaking quickly and using his hands when he spoke. "I'm pretty good for morale if you like music." Having forgotten about the second part of the first question he began to speak again. "Oh yeah! No, I don't have any outstanding warrants, the one I had was taken care of, and it wasn't even really a crime perse..." He knew she'd probably search him, he wasn't worried. Feeling confident in himself, Feng decided to order a drink, he motioned at the barkeeper and shouted his order at him from the table, ordering a "Blackmoon mouthwash" whatever that was.
 
"Aye! Watch it girlie!"

Blue eyes rose up from the alien text they were attempting at translating, not realizing that she was about to walk in front of a very heavily armed cart with an even more intimidating carter, Octavia blinked and rushed to take a step back letting the man through, "I apologize Sir." The man scoffed and walked right past her without a second glance. Octavia moved to pick up her dropped briefcase but paused, completely at awe at the man's posterior. He had a long spotted blue tail with a glowing end! 'He looked completely human though...must be a hybrid...but what though? Come on Octavia...oh!' He was a Megolanomian, known for being able to go for months without any form of sustenance because of the stored nutrients in their tails!

She had never seen a live one before, her heart thudded just imagining all the questions she could ask him and almost took off after him, but she remembered ' not why she came to port...and the fact that she almost made him spill his product just because she wasn't looking. She glanced down at the paper in her hand it described an ad for potential crew ship members for an expedition team in a few different languages. It was a long shot, for the captain to even consider her an inexperienced, fresh out of school doctor with no prior recommendations except from her professors. Still she had to try as she picked up her briefcase to turn the corner of the street hoping she was heading in the right direction for The Sun's Edge Bar.

Entering the strangely not very crowded room, proved nerve wrecking for her. Octavia reminded herself that she was a highly qualified and thoroughly trained medical professional with many options, she was simply going out on a whim as of now. After a quick scan of the area a round table in the back caught her eye, from the looks of it it was the meeting she was looking for, already started. "First impression...late. Nice Octavia." She mumbled under her breath as she strolled over with as much confidence possible walking up right to the captain, "Excuse me, Captain? Please excuse my tardiness my name is Dr. Octavia Valko, recent graduate at an American institute of humanoid and alien medical school, i'm here in response to your ad?" Octavia managed to catch the end of the other man's and apparently doctor's introduction and felt her ears burning. "...Well perhaps i'll apply for a secondary physician position then." She trailed off with as she placed her briefcase on the ground.
 
Well Mari 4 sure seemed to be overall well composed for this meeting. That was great... for her, and the others seemed pretty damn confident themselves. As the crowd had suddenly grew, Marcus couldnt help but feel a little claustrophobic, but he took a deep breath and regained his posture. He pulled out his holo-mobile and with a few deft taps and strokes, forwarded the information that he had provided. When he spoke this time, he sounded sure of himself, not nervous little Holland from earlier.

"I was born and raised a few systems away from earth, a planet known as Gendor. My father served as an engineering officer in the civillian- military department and taught me everything he knew. He purchased a machinery shop after retirement and thats where you could say I grew up. I can work with any engine, from a basic thrust capacitor to a military hyperspace jump engine. I can also program and maintenance main system controls for engines and other machinery, including but not limited to hydraulic systems, fuel lines, electrical systems and communication lines. I dont have any degrees of sorts, what my dad couldnt teach me, I learned myself through books and personal trial and error. Built my first hoverbike when I was fifteen from the parts of a junked Scavenger Cruiser, theres images of that in what I sent you."

Sure enough, there were sequential images of the hoverbike and the young Marcus, each image showing a later year and with improvements on the bike. Other images included were images of Marcus working on engines varying in sizes from a simple town cruiser to oversized thrust engines meant for large starships. He stood straight and kept a straight face as he waited for what the captain would say.
 
"Excellent," Mari 4 said as she bowed slightly to the Captain. Bowing was one of the habits she developed since she had ended up in Japan... which was not her actual place of origin. She bit her lip at the Captain's words though, and wanted to correct her, but it wasn't an important detail at this time and she refrained. Perhaps it will come up again later and then she would correct the Captain on her origin... which was in reality a mystery.

Given a choice of waiting at the bar or reporting to the X-O, Mari 4 thought about it for a moment. "It may be a while before I see a real bar, so I may as well enjoy it while we're here" she said softly to herself.

She walked to the bar and found an open spot. "One Earth beer, please." It was cause for a bit of celebration, after all.

But maybe a celebration in moderation.

"An Earth beer light."

She took a big gulp into it. Very cold, light, tasty, but not quite as good as her favorite brew, Kirin Beer. She looked on and watched the rest of the potential recruits, her potential shipmates, still hopeful about landing berth on the crew. I made the right choice, she thought to herself, I get to see this process of life. All trying to reach something, but only a few get to it.

She raised her glass and toasted with no one in particular.
 
Captain Auriana Belarus
Sun's Edge Bar

The Captain gave Mari a brief nod of acceptance, as if the girl had been addressing her, before turning her attention back to the other recruits.

"Well, my name is Dr. Crius Derson, I currently work at a rather successful office as the main physician. I've been practicing there for about, oh, five or six years now. Which might not seem like a long time, but I assure you that it is more than long enough for one to be sufficiently experienced," he finished.

Derson was a man of an unidentified race, although he was clearly at least half-human. She perused the datapad he handed her carefully, but quickly. He had satisfactory work experience, and operating on a station like this made any doctor comfortably familiar with xenobiology, which was good; however, he was working at a private practice which meant he probably didn't have a great deal of surgical experience. She would have to accept it though, most experienced doctors weren't in the habit of joining private crews and Crius was the best applicant so far.

"Excuse me, Captain? Please excuse my tardiness my name is Dr. Octavia Valko, recent graduate at an American institute of humanoid and alien medical school, I'm here in response to your ad?" another girl interjected, albeit politely.

"We've just found our Senior Medical Officer," Auriana stated, handing Crius his datapad. "You may wait with our first Engineer at the bar, or report to the XO," turning back to Octavia she continued. "There are still medical staff positions available, if you're interested?"

"...Well perhaps i'll apply for a secondary physician position then," the girl concluded, setting down her equipment.

"I'll need to know exactly which institution you graduated from, and when, as well as any work related experience you've had before now," the Captain stated, giving her time to prepare her response as she turned to the Slalin who was introducing himself more thoroughly.

"Some people have referred to me as 'Roaring Feng'. I'll forward you the name of the guy who gave me that name, he runs a pretty respectable mercenary group." The Captain nodded in response, it turns out she was familiar with him. His name wasn't up there with Black Jax or Moranth, but Roaring Feng had a reputation for quality. "As for the position on the ship, Asset protection. I've fired everything from antique firearms to a completely organic gun that shoots parasitic lifeforms," which about summed up where he got his reputation.

"Oh yeah! No, I don't have any outstanding warrants, the one I had was taken care of, and it wasn't even really a crime perse..." She would indeed need to hear more about that later, but for now, she was satisfied.

"Alright, Roaring Feng," she began. "As it happens, I have heard about you. Dagda, if I'm not mistaken? Quaid's outfit, I met the bastard once. You've done some revolutionary work with sonic discharge weaponry, if only in small scale conflicts. It'll be a pleasure to have you aboard the Vixen, bar or XO, though I'm guessing it is bar," she concluded, as a waitress arrived with his drink.

Finally, it was down to Marcus, the silent Ming and the newly arrived Dr. Octavia.

Marcus' confident recounting of his events, and the files she browsed on her holo-device while he was speaking, assuaged any concerns about his competence. That said, she did have Mari to question him and vice versa in case either of them were making mistakes. He would make a decent addition to the crew, and could potentially mature into a senior officer. "Alright, Marcus, you're application is accepted. XO, or bar," she finished, turning to the remaining two.
 
Nhills smiled an odd, toothy, reptilian smile at the captain's reply "Yeah, I'm sure you'll get a chance to hear eventually, and please just Feng is fine. " Feng replied. He nodded to the waitress as she dropped his drink off. His snake-like tongue flicked out a few times over the rim of the glass, which was filled with a thick black liquid that looked like it had some form of mist rising off the top of it. His slit pupils dilated slightly, and even more so when he took a long drink of it. A thin black mist escaped his mouth as he exhaled after his drink. "Sssss, Yeah I'll be at the bar for a minute." Feng hissed the first part of his sentence. "Uh... one question though, you got room on your ship for a little scout class? and also what will the lodgings be like? I may need some room for my things." He paused for a brief second, realizing he'd asked more than one question.

"I meant two questions." Feng turned to face the back of the girl sitting at the bar who had just gotten the job a long with himself "Heeyyy, you party animal why don't you come sit over at the victory table!" Feng half shouted to Mari. He quickly turned back to look at Marcus and in a hushed voice said. "I saw her make direct eye contact with you when she came in, dude." She didn't "She's into you, man." followed by another completely unfounded statement. Combined with Feng's invasive personality and apparent low alcohol tolerance, the crew could be in for an interesting ride.
 
"Ah! Fantastic, thank you very much." Crius nearly bounced but managed to mostly contain himself, merely rolling back onto his heels for a moment before regaining his composure. He took back his datapad from his Captain and walked over to the bar, a frown appearing on his face as he heard Feng's rather loud comment about victory tables. It hadn't been directed to him of course, but it still managed to rub him the wrong way.

He sat down and asked the bartender if he could have a glass of whateve most popular. He'd always asked for that whenever he went to a bar and hadn't yet been disappointed. It did however mean that he had no idea what any of the drinks were called and had trouble trying to order something specific. A few minutes later he was handed a simple drink, it was almost silvery in colour and was served with quite a lot of ice. Crius nodded in thanks and sat down with his drink next to Mari 4.
"Your resume was quite impressive. I don't think I've met anyone quite as well qualified as you" he chuckled and took a sip of his drink. "I'm not surprised the captain hired you on the spot."
 
King looked around at the people that were accepted. They seemed respectable enough, expecaily Mari 4. However the one who called his self Roaring Feng acted like a umpudent teenager. He turned back to Miss. Belarus and began to speak. "I was trained from birth to fight beasts the size of this bar by my rather ambitious father. My tool of trade," he brought his blade out of under his cloak and laid it on the table. ",is this. It is made from pure Nitor and, as far as I've used it, can slice though anything. I have been hired for countless jobs. Some of my more notable being the assassination of Gunci Brinca ,former tyrant of Mercan, aiding the Loiten resolution, and dueling Wardo 'The King of The Space Pirates'." He pronounced the title with a sarcastic tone, that bothersome creep was stupidly vain. "As far as my skills go, stealth and speed are my strong suit. But I digress, weak is my grasp of modern technology and firearms." To Mingna, not knowing your weaknesses was equal to having no strength, so King made sure to include where he fell short. "By the way, people tend to get this wrong, but my first name is King, not a title."
 
Marcus couldnt help but mentally breathe a sigh of relief as the captain accepted his application. It took a lot that he had to keep his composure and sound the way he did. However, when it came to mechanics and engineering, he always managed to find strength from his knowledge. With a quick nod and a "Thank you captain", he made his way to the bar, albeit a few seats away from the others in an attempt to try and avoid conversation, which quickly proved vain with the one who was already drunk. He started going off about how someone made eye contact with him or something of the matter. He was too uncomfortable to really listen.

"Uh-huh" he managed to say as he scooted another chair over and ordered his own drink... a glass of ice water.
 
Once the Captain gave her approval to proceed anyway with the interview despite her tardiness, Octavia did not waste anytime sitting down placing her briefcase in her lap. Opening it she pulled out the various folders containing her credentials, recommendations and so forth, setting them down on the table awaiting evaluation. Octavia found herself smiling at the groups interactions, so different but seemed to not have any sort of conflict. Once everyone had said their peace Octavia presented the Captain with her University papers, "So I attended The University of Washington for my undergrad and premed degrees, tended medical school at Harvard University receiving my M.D in humanoid medicine and getting my Ph.D in Alien Studies with a specialty in Alien Anatomy." She gave her the recommendations from her professors and sighed, "As for past experience...um I really don't have much. I just graduated a month ago and all the field experience I had were from shadowing doctors and surgeons in my final year for my M.D. I worked in an alien research facility though, basically cutting into corpses donated to science for two years though, but it got a little morbid for me."
 
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