Endless Space

[Calderthepirate]

Mark was going in and out of sleep when he heard the knocking. "God damn it! Not even ten fucking minutes?" He said aloud. He swung the door open and raised A eyebrow. "Hey you sexy son of A bitch! How's your nose doing these days Sniffles?" he said nodding to Scott.

Mark and Scott had a long past together. They worked numerous jobs, all types and classes. They had encountered death and war countless times on the same bus, but always rode it all the way home. He looked at scott for a moment then leaned out of the doorway at the Jugnar.

"Oh thank god she's gone..." he said shaking his head. He left the door open so Scott could make his way in. "Ah go ahead and make yourself at home. Got some Gin over near the sink" he said.
Mark jumped onto the couch and yawned. "What do you make of all of this?" he said in questionative tone. This was space embassy land. The rules as far as keeping to conduct when it came to speech were down on the low. You just would never be cuaght saying something very immature to a general or other higher rank commanding officers. Although Mark was a bit different. He wasn't bred into the army, like most others. He was hired from A mercenary group that helped the resistance on mars for so many many years.

[BlueTwistar]

As Eva was beginning to leave Mark's door, she heard humming. She looked up to see a man in his 30's with a ridiculous hair style; at least she thought so, and dressed in full uniform heading down the same hall in the opposite direction of her. The foul, tarry smell of his cigar made her sensitive nose wrinkle. However her attitude changed with the compliment of "Beautiful." She fluttered her eyes at him and flashed a sharp, toothy grin. Then her keen green eyes narrowed to slits, she looked dangerous. It was hard to tell whether she enjoyed or loathed what the man said after "Beautiful" With her race being well known to the humans for their cat-like appearance, the Jungar already understood the cat calls that the humans used for them. Eva continued on her way, the tip of her tail twitching. Tomorrow will be interesting indeed.

[StormWolf]

Scott smiled as the door was opened and he was greeted warmly. He chuckled and sniffed loudly, clearing his nose.

"How is my nose? FUBAR'd as always." he walked, more stumbled, inside, his breath already thick with the scent of cigar and booze. He plopped himself down on a chair oppsite of where Mark was sitting after making himself a Gin with a thimbles worth of tonic thrown in the glass. The Sniffles Special, the boys in the platoon called it.

"What do I think? I think you should never be happy to see a piece of ass that nice walk away," he said with his usual sly smirk, pointing to the door. He obviously meant the Jungar pussy-cat he was walked by. He watched her walk after he made is comment and it made him a little dizzy, seeing those hips move. He laughed into his glass as he took a sip, wincing slightly as the strong dring gave him a slight vapor lock.

"That's good shit. You always had good taste, lad." he took another sip and sniffed, shaking his head sharply.

"Woo..." he sniffed again, he always did when he had more than a few drinks. "As far as the mission goes, I am no diplomat. I hate politics and politicians. They send people like me to die for their petty gain. I am here to make sure you, the hot and fuzzy piece of ass, and whoever else is on the crew gets out with little-to-no harm. Other than that, I am not a real asset when it comes to politics, because these aliens complicate things, and I like my missions simple." he winked and raised his glass with a click of his tongue, taking another sip.

"The General in his eternal kindness will be shipping my more personal particulars to me within twenty-four hours. The whole Court Marshall think kinda dubs me as a public menace. ME, of all people." he chuckled, his speech heavy with sarcasm, "All I got on me now is this goddamn flashlight..." he pointed to the laser pistol strapped to his thigh. Scott was known for his dislike of laser technology. Mostly for the fact that it was alien, but also for the fact that it coutorized the enemies wound if it was not powerful enough and that they just had no manliness to them. No satisfying bang-bang when you drop someone.

Scott finished his drink and walked it to the sink, properly putting it away before spitting the remains of his chewed cigar into the trash.

"What do you think about this mission, 'Oh captain, my captain'?" Scott asked half-jokingly as he took his seat again.

[Ophelia]

Nakia sat alone in an office, finely furnished in the most opulent furniture the United Egyptian Forces had to offer. Beside the rich reds and luxurious browns, she almost faded into the background. A look of discomfort was plainly displayed on her face, the result of a clash between a humble upbringing and the extravagance of the UEF that she was yet to grow accustomed to. Directly in front of her stood a desk with carefully arranged stationary and the obligatory Family Photo. Uneasily, she twitched her seat side to side as she awaited the arrival of her boss.

Eventually, the sound of the door being pushed open was sounded, and Nakia leapt to her feet in a salute, glad to be out of the chair she was beginning to become sucked into, if only for a few seconds. The dark-skinned man that had just entered removed his ceremonial headpiece, placing it on a golden wig stand next to the door, and then chose to acknowledge the woman awaiting his presence.
“Ms Nakia Leon...” He paced over to the desk, taking the seat behind it. “Please, have a seat.” Hesitating for a moment, Nakia lowered herself back onto the showy stool, feeling herself sink several inches further before coming to a rest. “You like the chair? I can have my men install one aboard for you.” The President of the UEF gestured wildly, a self-satisfied grin playing upon his lips.
“I wouldn’t want you to put your resources at an unnecessary strain, sir.” Nakia responded quickly, hoping that her hint would be taken. It was not, not that she was particularly surprised. The President was known for his impelling generosity to those whom he deemed deserving.
”Nonsense! I will not have our finest Weapons Specialist in any kind of discomfort. Our country is indebted to you and your services for life!” The President’s trademark sinister smile played across his lips. ”Provided, of course, that you perform your duties as we previously discussed...” His squinted eyes connected with her own to hammer the point home. The consequences of failure would be utter disgrace.
“I’m honoured by your belief in my capabilities, Sir.” She retorted, smiling politely. It was a fake smile, and an even faker reply, but Nakia knew better than not to play the game he was setting out for her by now. Ten years from her own twenty-eight spent as a high-tiered researcher ensured that.

The President stood, and strode over to the other side of the room, pulling out a file. He flicked the jewel-encrusted binder open, and scanned the pages within.
”Yes... well... everything else seems to be in order.” He shut the file, sliding it back into its place. Nakia wondered if he had ever actually read the contents. ”We’ve arra- well, of course, I’ve arranged a new uniform. Crimson red, with the insignia of the United Forces of Egypt emblazoned proudly on the right sleeve.” He chuckled, adding hastily, ”And that of Earth, too.” The President reached out and took Nakia’s hand between his own, the dark skin reflecting her own similar shade. ”It will go lovely with your complexion, my dear.” He looked into her dark eyes, framed by a heavy amount of kohl, as was the custom, with a look that Nakia could tell was thinly veiled disinterest, despite his best acting efforts. ”But now I must let you go.” He raised Nakia to her feet with her hand, then shook it gently. ”Remember what we have discussed. And now I bid you farewell, and good luck.” He dropped the hand and moved back to the Presidential Seat. Nakia bowed slightly to him and then moved out of the room, sighing with relief.

All her things had been carried on board, at her protest. An array of weaponry, books and tools trailed in a long line into her quarters as she looked on, helplessly. Pushing aside the feeling that she was being mollycoddled, she decided to retire to her quarters. Picking up the only piece of her luggage left, a small drawstring bag that seemed to contain toiletries, she made her way into the apartment district, following a small diagram one of the guards had kindly drawn out for her.

As she rounded the corner, she sensed a figure coming towards her. Snapping her head up from the map, she met with the creature's eyes. Immediately, she was reminded of one of her cats she used to keep at her home. She shot the Jugnar a warm smile. "Eva, I presume?" She asked, recognising the face from the profiles she was given on the briefing of her crew. Her picture did her no justice. Nakia pulled out her hand and offered it to her. "Nakia Leon. I'm the Weaponry Specialist."

[Calderthepirate]

Mark shrugged leaning back into the chair. "I ah...I am not so sure yet. They say we will only be going on simple transport missions first. Our very first is a restock call from K0, about a three day ride." he said yawning. "It's about time though I guess. Time that WE would be able to go further than this rock." he said scratching at his side. He stood up slowly, then stretched.

"I just hope there's nothing under these layers of kindness that our embassies have shown us so far...But then again, I would be naive not to believe there is something very complex going on behind the shadows." he said snorting getting annoyed at himself. He was dead tired and dead beat. He had not slept in four days. Too much going on, too many changes. His things had already been taken onto
the ship a while back, all that was left was his kitchen, couch, bed, clock and A t.v. .

"I got about two hours tops till we have to show up there. I am gonna get some shut eye, help yourself to what ever ya want. Remotes over there." he said pointing to a slim short black console on the couch. It looked like an earthly remote, just smaller and much simpler. He stretched from the chair, getting up. He headed down the hallway until he reached his room. He set the clock than hopped into the bed chamber trying to force himself to sleep.

[BlueTwistar]

As Eva heard Mark's door close, she rolled her eyes and rounded the corner. Instantly she was greeted by another human, this time a female. Eva stopped in her tracks, her ears perked forward and then one turned back in a unsure matter. The woman introduced herself as the weapon specialist, Nakia Leon. Eva gave a nod of response.
"I am." she said politely, tilting her head as she looked at Nakia's out streched hand. "Oh right, sorry." she smiled embarrassingly and remembered the human way of greeting. Eva reached out and shook Nakia's hand. For Jungar's, they greeted each other by gently touching the tip of each others noses with their pointing finger. It was to show trust in one another.
"I'm glad to know that I'm not the only woman on board." she said putting her hands on her hips, she bit one side of her lip as a fang slightly shown. "Oh and beware of the one who smells like the bitter smoking stick things. He seems a bit friskier than I." she said with a chuckle, pointing down the hall she just came from. "Besides that, I think all will be well on our trip."

[X]

Geru stood near the edge of the docks next to a small open crate of his stuff. Upon arriving at Blue 7 he had been informed that a luggage scan had detected a weapon in his stuff, and that he was not authorized to carry one. A little while later, after he had gotten down to the docks, the guards opened his crate and searched through everything, all his tools and belongings, before finding his custom made plasma cutter. One of them tried to turn it on after being informed what it was, but obviously didn't know how to use the device and ended up causing the gas canister to explode, which got him a nice little chemical burn on his hand.

At present Geru was stuck filling out paperwork, Haru nearly asleep on his left shoulder. He finally finished the last paper, then was handed another sheet of paper by the Shela'Nai lawyer standing next to him. "And what's this one about?" He asked, not wanting to get pulled into something he didn't want to be in.

"Well, this one is given out only at the end of the process, it states that you signed all of the papers before willingly and in full knowledge of what they meant. You see my signature there, that's my statement, and you sign just below it if you agree." The man was calm, and yet rather bored sounding, like he had done this before.

"So, this is the last one then?" Geru said, his tail flicking back and forth with the prospect of being done with this boring stuff. He signed the paper, then put it on top of the inch thick stack that hung over the side of his crate, handed back the pen, and then picked up the papers and handed them off to the lawyer, who promptly took them back to the dock's administration building. Geru closed the lid on his crate, the steel box locking itself once it was closed, and then watched the dock crew load it into the Endless before he set off in the general direction of the apartments.

On the way his tail swayed back and forth near the floor, trying to avoid being stepped on by passersby and his ears swiveled wildly, taking in the conversations of those around him. Haru awoke, blinking his eyes groggily before opening the mental link that he and Geru shared.

"You finished the papers?" "Yes, i did. They even let me keep the plasma cutter." "So you're headed to the captain's room right?" "Uhh... yeah." Haru could sense that Geru had completely forgotten about checking in. "Honestly sometimes i don't know what you would do if i weren't here." "Well it wouldn't be good... probably a shopkeeper's assistant or something."

The end of the silent conversation found Geru headed for where he knew Captain Shova's room was.

[StormWolf]

Scott sniffed loudly as Mark yawned and fell asleep, shaking his head slightly before reaching for the remote and turning on the television. He must have flipped through the channels three times just to pass the time.

"Over five hundred channels and nothing dirty is on. The fuck?!" He muttered, switching over to the news, good ol' boring political rubbish. It was good inspiration on which Scott could clean his guns. He disassembled each piece and cleaned them meticulously, just trying to pass the time. He was by no means sleepy. He was too restless. He hummed "Scotland the Brave" as he cleaned his rifle.

Once he was pleased with the condition of his rifle, he moved to his postil, fumbling with the smaller parts of the laser weapon, mumbling a steady stream of curses all the while. Giving up on trying to recalibrate the power cell, the Master Sergeant moved on to sharpening his knife.

[Calderthepirate]

Mark couldn't catch even a wink of rest. He was too nervous about the mission to sleep. He laid in the bed until he felt his body had sufficient rest to continue the rest of the day. He wondered about how the beds on the ship were like. He hoped the were better than these third rate apartments he lived in. He walked out of the room seeing Scott fixing up his weapons.

"Yeah, Didn't think the T.V. would keep ya entertained." he said laughing under his breath. He walked to the door checking his mail deposit. He opened it, seeing another jugnar walking down the hallway towards his room. He flew back into the room slamming the door. "Where the fuck are the fucking jugnars coming from!" he said with wild eyes. "Jesus H. Fucking Christ in a half." he whispered. He shook his head feeling that he was being kind of on the rude side, but he was tired and not all in the mind right now. Things easily made him frustrated at the moment.

He opened the door stepping out shaking his head. "I was briefed you would be showing up sometime today before departure." He said taking in a deep breath presenting his hand for a shake. "Mark Shova" he said introducing himself. He kept his cool even though he was getting rather frustrated from all the excitement.

[X]

Geru looked at mark's hand for a second before remembering the human custom. He extended his own hand and shook Mark's. "Well, it would have been sooner if not for an unfortunate incident. Geru Tekeru, or Tek if you like." Haru looked at the man from his spot on Geru's shoulder, he seemed presentable enough.. if a bit tired. "Don't forget to tell him you're the engineer." Geru shot a glance at Haru Okay, that one i can remember know-it-all." "I'm the engineer by the way." Geru tried to keep himself from showing the excitement he was feeling, but it was no use; his ears hept twitching and his tail was swaying back and forth vigorously. "By the way you're fly is down" "Oh shut up, you got me with that one yesterday." "Have it your way then." Geru tried not to look as hard as he could, but couldn't resist, he glanced down for an instant and looked up again. Haru immediately began snickering and Geru promptly flicked him in the side of the head. "That one never gets old."