TGR Territory Border | Drift Station | Warden's Tooth Bar, VIP Room
"The pay is always negotiable."
[hr]
As it turned out, the prospective crew was looking to be full of all sorts, including a pirate it seemed. As Red Mary, the human female cyborg, explained her own story, Mar was a little surprised to hear that she was actually Ex-TGR, something that she wouldn't have figured. Then again, she supposed that any races military would have all kinds. The Catican female, Irina, introduced herself and her partner as well, the two of them coming as a pair, along with the two seemingly un-augmented humans sticking together as well. While Irina and Edward were essentially a Merchant and Shock Trooper respectively, Mar got the feeling that the human pair were bounty hunters of some kind. The look that Mary directed at them at least gave that impression.
When the rest of them each said their piece, Walker spoke up again, mentioning that the job they were going to be hired for had to do with an Outer Colony, Fortuna IV, acting against TGR interests by withholding some excavated valuables that the TGR believed that they had the rights to. The pay wasn't finalized, largely due to Walker wanting to persuade their employers to part with some extra credits, and as of the time they were speaking, their pay was going to be 8000 credits each.
Mar frowned at that part. 8000 was reasonable, if a little low for what they were probably going to do. Presumably, they were there to pacify the locals and retrieve the excavated goods. Or at least, that was the impression she got, even with Walker mentioning it as a skirmish. With any luck, they wouldn't be biting off more than they could chew.
"If you have questions, save it for when we meet up again. IF you're going then the meeting point is at my ship in the East Shipyard. Ships name is called 'Sweet Child of Mine', Be there within the hour if you're planning on going. If not it was nice meeting y'all."
"Right. I'll meet you after I dock the Devil-Fish." Mar said as she stood up and exited the meeting room herself.
As she left the Warden's Tooth, she immediately made a beeline to where the Shuttle Bays were located. After all, Walker asked for her to give a demonstration of her piloting skills, and she was sure to deliver.
[hr]
TGR Territory Border | Drift Station | Devil-Fish #66 Cockpit
"It's my turn to fly."
[hr]
As the loading door of the Devil-Fish opened, Mar had already begun stripping out of what she considered her off-duty stationwear, tossing the synth-leather jacket onto a worn couch, quickly followed by her cargo pants as she stepped aboard. The cargo area of the shuttle looked very close to what most stations considered to be "Economy Quarters": A single room with only just enough in the way of amenities to be considered livable. And barring a few empty tubes branded with a smiling Shree face strewn about the floor, it was largely clean as well.
She strode through, still wearing the pale orange envrio-suit that acted almost like a second skin, and took down a dark gray jumpsuit and black helmet that hung from one of the cargo latch-points and started to slip into it with practiced efficiency.
By the time she sat in the pilots seat, she was fully dressed, including the domed helmet that immediately brought up her heads-up display. The cockpit itself was dominated by a control panel along with a few monitors meant to keep track of the various functions of the shuttle, but the oddest thing about it was a quartet of control sticks, each of which seemed to be attached to some sort of articulated arm.
Grasping the top two control sticks with her true-hands, her false hands flew across the control panel behind them and started her pre-flight checks. It didn't take long before she was finished, and she immediately began the engine start-up sequence as she pinged Station Control.
"Drift Station Control, this is Devil-Fish. Requesting permission to launch from Shuttle Bay Two-Zero. Engines are hot, ready to go." she said with a grin behind the dome of her helmet.
"
Devil-Fish, this is Station Control. Launch clearance is granted from Bay Two-Zero, proceed with caution as external docks are congested at the present time." they replied as the airlocks behind her closed, and the ones ahead of her began to cycle.
"Affirmative, Station Control. Keep an eye on those external sensors for me. Devil-Fish, out." she told them.
The moment the airlock was opened, the garishly-painted shuttle screamed out of the bay with insane speed, and very narrowly avoided the underside of a heavy freighter. As she did, she whooped with exhilaration even as she heard Station Control begin to violently swear at her for being a reckless idiot. As her false-hands grabbed the remaining two control sticks, she couldn't help but think that they hadn't seen anything yet, and then she twisted the controls with a sudden violence.
The Devil-Fish executed a sharp, looping turn and started to speed right back in the direction of the Shuttle Bays, narrowly avoiding them as it turned again to fly up, parallel to the station as she twisted the controls again.
"Faster... Come on, faster!" she murmured under her breath as she twisted the shuttle to fit through the narrow gap between a pair of docked ships, before executing another loop, this time around the nose of one of them.
She kept passing dangerously close to both station hull and ships, but she never got so close as to bump shields or actually scrape hulls, and the way she flew had a rather violent grace to it. When she felt she was finished, she pulled away from the station, and with another flick of her wrists the shuttle made a quick about-face before flying almost lazily in the direction of the ship that her HUD identified as the Sweet Child of Mine.
"Sweet Child of Mine, this is Devil-Fish..." Mar said as she pinged them, her voice more than a little breathless.
[hr]
TGR Territory Border | Drift Station | Sweet Child of Mine Docking Bay
"I'm one of the fastest female canines that you'll ever meet."
[hr]
Once the Devil-Fish was safely tucked in one of the converted containers of the Sweet Child of Mine, she made her way through the ship's corridors with her helmet tucked under one false-arm and a data pad held firmly in the other. When she finally stepped out onto the Docking Bay, she immediately saw both Walker, lounging on a lawn chair as well as Red Mary and Irina.
Striding up to Walker, she gave him a pleased smile and offered the data pad to him. As she did, it was immediately noticeable that, unlike earlier, a very distinct, musky smell was emanating from her, and what little skin was showing was a little more... Vibrant.
"Well, Captain, you wanted a demonstration? Here you are. Hopefully that should be enough to convince you that I'm a superb pilot, one of the best." she said, her distorted voice still a little short of breath.
The data pad itself showed her Devil-Fish from a variety of different angles as the external sensor array recorded her entire flight. As Walker, and perhaps others, watched the footage, her smile turned a little sheepish.
"Now, I should probably get back aboard the Sweet Child of Mine. If any station authorities ask, I'm not here." she told him.