Credit Slips and Smog Clouds

[tansytansey]

Taking her time to arch her back and stretch her stiff muscles, Ashes finally slumped back into the padding of her captain's seat and relaxed for a few moments. All the pre-flight system checks were done, atmosphere was stable, life support online, gravity drive was functional on all essential decks, and mood lighting active. The engines were beginning their start-up sequence for the first time since being dry docked a few weeks back.

Ashes glanced at the time display in the corner of her neural net HUD. Where was Draya? She should have been back by this time. She sighed, flexed her toes before pulling her thick woolen socks back on and planting her feet into her boots, then forced herself back to her feet with a groan and uttered something incomprehensible to herself in Kusarian tongue as she headed for the metallic staircase that guided her in a spiral downwards into the vast cargo bay deep in the belly of the transport.

On her way out of the ship she crossed paths with a familiar faces Rogue, it was the man she had humiliated earlier by trapping him in a painful lock. It seemed like he had been waiting for her, she tensed herself incase of some form of retaliation.

"What do you want?" She asked sternly as the Rogue gazed at her intently while she approached him.

"Let me fly with you. I want to be part of your crew on this flight." He requested.

Ashes squinted her eyes suspiciously at him. "How do I know you ain't planning some sort of revenge?" She asked.

The Rogue grinned "If I were planning to hurt ya, I'dn't take the trouble of asking your permission." He responded.

That seemed reasonable enough.

"You're right. Luring me into a false sense of security would have been the smart thing to do." She mused to herself out loud. "Welcome aboard. Make yourself useful." She invited him, stepping to the side and allowing him entrance to the ship.

Ashes made her way down to the hangar floor as the ship was sealed up behind her. The ship was starting its final launch sequences now. Ashes stopped to glance around the hangar and see if she could see Draya. Knowing her friend, she was probably off flirting with some random bloke. As if on cue, Draya called out to her and came running over, waving her hand above her head.

Ashes placed her hands on her hips and wrinkled her nose as Draya approached. "You smell like a fancy hotel toilet." She remarked bluntly.

"How would you know what a fancy hotel toilet smells like?" Draya returned the jest, and the pair of them giggled to themselves.

"The ship's cargo bay is sealed up tight, but we can still get access to the bridge from here directly." Ashes said, starting up the vast side of the Diamonds and Rust.

She led Draya over to a cherry-picker like device and clambered up to the top of it, helping Draya up after herself. There wasn't much room for the two of them, but it'd do. The machine groaned as it started up and the hydraulic lift pushed the platform up. Ashes held onto Draya with one arm for support while holding the control lever firmly in the "up" position as the rickety machine ascended them higher, and the hangar floor became distant below them.

"This can't be safe." She thought as the platform reached its peak and extended out until it met with the airlock on the side of the transport's bridge.

The metal groaned as the pair gingerly walked across the platform, not trusting its strength for a second. Ashes finally wrenched open the airlock and the two leaped inside quickly, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Let's never do that again." Ashes decided.

After taking a moment to collect herself, Ashes entered the bridge and took her seat at the captains chair. "Is the ship ready?" She asked immediately.

"Engines are at one hundred percent capacity, ready for lift off." One of the flight-deck Rogues responded promptly.

"Tower, this is Rogue White-15, requesting clearance for Air Lock B." Ashes called through the comm systems to the Alcatraz flight control.

"Roger that White-15. B is clear, but mind the clearance and lose some damn weight." The comm unit replied with a crackle of static.

"Bite me, Flynn." Ashes said cheekily back through the comms as the giant air lock doors opened before the ship like a giant maw.

She glanced across at Draya and grinned. "Ready for an epic adventure?"

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|Ashes and Draya's Epic Adventure|Ashes "Nighthawk" Yotaka|Nightfall|Eva Jones|
[5:50:49 PM] JakeSG (William Darkmoor) says: I like you, Ashes. You're more cynical than God.