Mechanists: Attempt Two

Brella smiles and waved for him to follow, “‘Course! Mechanists need some good people to do good work. We’re deliverin’ supplies to a research outpost, and I need a crew with me for the long haul. You don’t have to, but if you’re willing, you can stick around long as you keep thinkin’ the pay’s good.”

She tallied up her moves in her head and smiled. He knew what she wanted, and she was only guessing at what he could do, or what he wanted. Mentally, she cursed her lack of foresight.

What’s so special about this guy? What can I get at to get him talking?

She smiled and casted a backwards glance at him, noticing the golden ring on his finger right away. Bingo.

“Not often you see a taken man so far from his family, looking for work,” Brella remarked, “You must come from somewhere tough.”

Zav followed her, then stopped, raising an eyebrow. "What? No! No this is…was my mothers. Not mine. I'm not…married. No." He said hurriedly. He glanced at the ring on his finger. Why was he even wearing it? Sentiment? He sighed softly, taking it off and putting it in his pocket before she could see the design. The design was really just the whole make of the ring, of two slim golden rings intertwined. It was meant to be a symbol of marriage. Only the Sha'liss used it. It was symbolic of the golden circles in their eyes, mirrored on their fingers. Stupid stupid stupid. He berated himself. Not my ring. Damn it. Knew I shouldn't have worn it.
He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Anyway…if you're still offering the job, of course I'd accept it."

Struck a cord. Now, how can you sing?

Brella gave him an awkward smile, “Ya’ll right? You look a little flustered.” She chuckled and turned to face him fully, “Nothing wrong with being a momma’s boy. I was the same way, till she let me go. Now about that job, I need someone to handle some data management on the ship. Virus detection and removal, networking with other ships, that sorta thing. I reckon’ you’re from Yalerti or something close, yeah? I hear their very sentimental, and I also hear they make some of the best software techs in the world.”

Robin came down and looked at him a little distrustfully. "Where are you headed? Why dont you have a ship of your own? How did you get to this rock in the first place?" She asked, trying to know his past to decided how close of an eye she should keep on him.

Zav looked at Brella, crossing his arms. "Where I'm from doesn't matter. All due respect, miss whatever your name is, but I'm not handing out personal information like that. Second, yeah I can handle tech stuff." His gaze flicked to Robin. "One, I'm headed wherever the winds take me. Two, not everyone has the money for one, sweetheart. Three, that's none of your business." He wasn't about to tell these two girls everything about him. If they hadn't yet clued in on his Sha'liss blood…he wasn't going to point it out.

Brella nearly jumped when Robin spoke. She’d been following them the whole time?

Jeez… frickin’ mag-lev wings…

“Robin, relax. You’re gonna spook our man out of a good paying job. Speaking of which, congrats,” She said to the man, “You’ve nearly passed me. If I might question one last thing…” she paused, choosing her words carefully. He was suspicious, but there was something about him that just seemed too good to pass up. Even if he was dirt poor and snarky… he had grit under fire.

“If it were me—your captain— or a little girl under the barrel of your gun and you had to pull the trigger on one of us, who would it be?”

"You." Zav replied without hesitation. "No offense. Hope that hasn't lost me my job." He shrugged slightly, appearing completely uncaring. In reality, if he didn't get this job, he wasn't sure what exactly he'd do, but…he watched Brella carefully. He knew what it was like to be a little kid and have a gun pointed in his face, for no reason. Or sometimes because, starving and skinny and hungry, he had stolen a little food. In return…well. He still bore a scar from that day.

“Well, well, well,” Brella said, her smile going wide, “Big guy has a heart after all. I’m Brella, and you’re working for the Mechanists now. Charity is more important to me than undying loyalty, but I’ll take them both. Now c’mon.”

She turned towards the Scarlet and began walking, keeping her new crew mate by her side. They entered through the workshop level, and Brella beamed, “This is my pride and joy. Scarlet’s workshop. If it can be broke, I can fix it here. Electrical, wooden, metal, you name it. Feel free to use it if you need to, just leave it the way you found it, and I do inventory at the end of each solar day, so don’t think about takin’ anything with you.”

Zav nodded, a corner of his mouth twitching slightly as she told him not to take anything. When she paused, he said, "You know, typically you shouldn't hire people whose names you don't know. I'm Zavace Cylor. You can call me Zav or Cylor, whatever propels your ship." He shrugged slightly. "And…if I may be so frank…why did you hire me?" Most people with a ship like this didn't look at a Sha'liss twice. Nobody did. They certainly didn't walk up to them on the street and hire them without knowing a thing about them.

(By the way, I forgot to mention this on the template, but all Sha'liss have two golden circles, one in each eye, in the middle of their iris. It's the sign of the Sha'liss, and they all have them. Sorry if I caused any confusion!)

She turned and smiled, “Cuz you looked like trouble. Lotta things you can see from the high cockpit of a ship in dry dock. Figured out the rest in conversation,” she narrowed her eyes and continued, “If you’d rather not have the job, I could always leave you here, without a ship and a way home to your mum, or your darlin’ or whatever. From what I know about you here I’m already sold, and I don’t need to know any different. We both know it’s hard to double cross an entire ship and get away without scars.”

"I'm not saying I don't want the job." Zav told her, raking a hand through his hair. "I just…most people don't hire my kind this easily. 'specially not…so quick." He said with a slight shrug, looking around the ship. It's a nice ship. He thought. Maybe I shouldn't have pointed out the whole…Sha'liss thing. He sighed softly, stretching. As he stretched, his hands flickered for a moment, almost seeming to blur as he allowed them to Shift just a little, then went back to normal as he lowered his arms back to his side.

Zav stretched as Brella turned back and pressed her hand to a lone cabinet in the back of the room, “So long as you can do the job, I don’t care what you are or where you’re from. Mechanists aren’t picky. We’ve done business with a lot of people. Some of them unkind allies. Some great.” The cabinet beeped and opened, revealing five laser pistols. Brella took two and gave them to her crew mates, “And we aren’t afraid to take the risk. It’s a pleasure to meet ya, Zav,” she said shaking his hand with her free hand whilst handing him his gun, “I’m Brethelledonna, but you’re gonna call me Brella. And so long as you do right by me, I’ll do right by you.”

Zav took the pistol, tucking it in his belt carefully. He'd fashion up a holster later. For now, he just made sure the safety was on so that he wouldn't literally shoot himself in the leg. "Alright then." He agreed, shaking her hand. "Nice to meet you, Brella." He gave a small smile, eyes flickering to the other two crewmen, then back to Brella. He tucked his hand in his pocket, feeling his mother's ring. What am I getting myself into? He asked himself, pulling his hand from his pocket.

(Does anyone know where @FaeEris is?)

Brella nodded, and with a small nod to herself climbed the ladder back into the cockpit. An alert message flashed on the controls dashboard, and she pulled down the headphones to answer.

“This is Brella Arazael, Captain of the Scarlet.”

From the other side came a gruff, simple reply, “Dock chief. The loading’s done. Fuel has been put in, as paid for. Ready to go.”

“Thank you, James,” Brella answered. She let the headphones retract back up and smiled to her crew. “Everyone ready?”

Zav nodded. "Yeah." He said, tapping his fingers on his leg. "Although I do have one question. Where am I sleeping?" He hoped he wasn't sharing a room, as he had a tendency to shape shift in his sleep, which would be very disconcerting for a roommate to see.

Brella pointed to the back of the cockpit to the two doors, “Pick one. Two beds in each. I typically sleep in the workshop, so don’t worry about me pokin’ on ya.”

With practiced fingers—a miracle considering this was her third time on the ship—Brella started the engines and ran a simple systems check. Electrical, fuel grade, shields and armor checks, all green. Beautiful.

Scarlet was by no means a hand-me-down. Loaded with the signature Mechanist workshop deck and typical curved Lovuthan style, she was the gift all Lovuthans got. It was immaculately clean, organized, and well built. To protect it were two 3690 Nata shield cores, as well as a Lovuthan Laser Spear Cannon, both able to be overcharged by a Lovuthan’s Tis’Sindri energy.

Brella sat down and continued to play with her controls settings while the crew got settled.

Zav sighed softly, and set his jacket on a bed to claim it as his spot. Oh well. He would have to hope that the other crew members weren't too prejudiced against the Sha'liss. After all, someone would be sharing a room with him. And he hoped that nothing of theirs went missing, because if something went missing aboard a ship, and there was a Sha'liss aboard…the Sha'liss were always the automatic suspect.

Easing the ship out of dock was easy enough. Without a single word of warning, Brella unlocked her docking clasps and eased the ship forward through the airlock. The massive titanium doors closed behind the ship, and with a loud hiss all the air in that space was vented back into the station’s systems. Tho outer station doors then opened, and Brella eased the ship out.

Zav was silent, watching out one of the windows as the ship began to maneuver it's way out. He raked a hand through his hair, and shifted slightly, his skin turning a rippling shade of blue, before going back to his normal skin tone.

(Ain't there like…two more ppl in this RP?)

Robin sat in her seat lazily playing with her wings as she took out a small golden box. she opend the top and music from her homeland started playing. she folded her wings and closed he eyes, letting the soft notes drift through the air and calm her nerves. a couple minutes later, the music stopped and she opened her eyes, closing the box and putting it away. "I apologize for playing this without consulting with you, but it is tradition in my land to play this song when starting a journey. The ancient music translates to a spell of safety when properly played." she said a little sheepishly

(Supposedly. Haven’t seen FaeEris recently.)

(oof. I'm so sorry guys. I went on vacation for a week and didn't have access. I'd still be down to participate if you'll have me.)

(Join on in!)

(To be honest, it’s been running pretty slow.)

(alright I read through what we have already. give me a moment to type up a reason why shay was absent. lol)

Shay jolted awake as the ship moved under him. Blinking wearily, he gazed about his bunk wondering where the hell he was. He groaned as he stood, stretching his cramped muscles until they were loose and relaxed. Although relaxed now, he couldn't ignore the half empty, clear bottle of bright purple liquid that tumbled out of his bed onto the floor. "Ah– Korli!" He said happily, naming the drink. "No wonder last night is so foggy." The ship gave another little shiver under his feet and that further jogged his memory. "Cata!" He cursed in his mother tongue, bolting out the door towards the cockpit. He really, really hoped that no one noticed his absence.
Coming up to the door, he carefully–and silently– arranged himself into a casual position, as if he had been there the entire time and didn't look half rumpled and smelled vaguely of the alcoholic beverage that sent him into a void after one drink. Those Sameenians sure knew how to brew a dangerous drink. "Off so soon?" He rasped into the silence.

“Shay!” Brella exclaimed happily, “I figured you were around here somewhere!”

Typing as quick as possible Brella plotted a course to the research station and wheeled about in her chair, “And I was just about to reach for some whiskey to accompany the music. Speaking of drinks, how’s that hangover?”

Zav was silent, drumming his fingers a bit. He glanced at Shay for a moment, then back out the windows. He ran a hand through his hair again. Music… He could still hear in his mind the wild, strange music of his people.

Shay simultaneously squinted against the light of the room and arched an eyebrow. "Who ever said I was drunk?" He asked casually, not making eye contact with anyone, instead taking the moment to look down at his hands. He wasn't ashamed in the slightest, his people never bothered with such self destructive feelings, but he'd rather not have the entire crew think that he was a laze about.