Stellar Legionnaires (Private)

[Altissa]

Arizona was pleased that calling Cartwright by the name that the humans had given him was acceptable. To be completely honest, replaying the sound that he'd made every time that she needed to address him would get tiring very quickly, and if she forgot his name, he'd probably be a little offended...Though the insect had a rather pleasant disposition and would probably forgive her. Still, she archived the name, just in case.

The man quirked at eyebrow at Calhoun's smile, nodding in response. They both had pointed teeth - perhaps they were both carnivores...When asked if he was looking for a job, the man tilted his head back and forth. "Sure. I could certainly use the money, and getting off-planet would do me some good" He agreed amiably. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Calhoun. My name is Tsare." He bowed his head politely.

Arizona noticed the gesture and looked back at Cartwright with a little sighed. "Apology: My companion has summoned me." She didn't know about the plan to get the ship, so she didn't know that they were leaving. She walked across the room to Calhoun, looking at him and refusing to even glance in the pupil-less man's direction, despite the fact that Tsare raised a hand in greeting. "Statement: The directive that you gave me led to success. Cartwright would be happy to pilot. He seems to have quite the passion for it."

[PerroCarne]

Cartwright didn't seem offended as she looked away but he did turn to the bartender and say: "She'd like to buy me another drink while I wait." The bartender paused for a moment and eyed the girl who had walked away. As he moved away, he had an uncomfortable expression on his face, obviously reminding himself he shouldn't be the one to judge couples.

Calhoun glanced at Arizona when she moved over and then nodded towards Tsare. "This is Arizona. Arizona, this is Tsare. He's got a ship he thinks might fit our needs and he's going to join our crew. He's good with a gun - and he knows well enough not to lie to a Vishe."

As Arizona relayed her message that Cartwright would fly for them, the to-be Captain nodded. "Cartwright is an odd name for an... insect isnt' it? He must have worked with humans before." The Vishe raised his hand and motioned for the insectoid to come over. The creature paused for a second, cocking his head slightly at the motion - as if he weren't sure whether he should follow it or be defiant. Quickly, though, as the Vishe's tail started to flick back and forth with more aggressive anger and the fur on his back rose, the insect moved over.

"Why don't you take us to this ship, Tsare?"

[Altissa]

Arizona didn't look at Tsare until Calhoun gestured to him, and when she did it was with a glare. Tsare only smiled easily at her, unnervingly used to being given angry looks from women. "Statement: If you think that that is a good idea, sir." Her addressing Calhoun as sir was a little odd, but she wanted to indicate that she respected him to both Cartwright and Tsare while they were present.

Tsare gave her an odd look and asked curiously, "'Statement'? Why would you say that? And only in front of the first sentence, for that matter?" When all he got for a response was another glare from Arizona, he shrugged it off. Arizona smiled at Cartwright, though, clearly much more fond of him than she was Tsare. She really respected his love of flying, and that he was willing to join them to follow it.

Tsare glanced at Cartwright and tilted his head curiously, but didn't ask this time. "All right, all right. It's just to the east of here, but, uh...Keep low, okay?"

Arizona frowned, "Query: Why would we want to do that? The alternative is much more exciting."
Tsare stared at her, obviously caught off guard by her viciousness. "Uh....Right."
The place that he led them to was a large, ornate building with two strong men standing outside. Tsare only laughed nervously as they passed, then led them down an alley and gestured at a back door with a grin.

[PerroCarne]

((oof! Sorry this took so long. Busy day!))

Calhoun raised a brow at Arizona and Tsare's interaction. For a moment he didn't say anything, but when their exchange seemed to spark again, the Vishe's tail flicked and he set out an irritated sigh. "Let's try to keep calm. You don't have to like each other, but if we're putting our lives in his hands, we had better not get on his bad side." He glanced towards Arizona and then his eyes flickered back towards Tsare. "We'll keep low, but I'm not taking a bullet for something that you've done." he finally decided, glancing between the two. "If we come under fire, I'll take you down or turn you in before Arizona or I get into any trouble."

Cartwright cocked his head slightly when Arizona glanced at him, but he didn't follow as they left the bar - at least, not immediately. They looked like they were about to get into trouble.

Calhoun followed him past the men, tail flicking. His hands rested on his swords, but he didn't take either out. As they walked through the ally and into the back door, the Vishe glanced towards the pupilless man. "The ship is through here? Or are we still walking?" His tone made it clear that if they walked much further, he was likely to put a knife through the man and find a ship on his own.

[Altissa]

(It's fine. ^_^ )

Tsare laughed awkwardly, clearly nervous in the face of Calhoun's threats. "There's a room past here, then it's just down a short hallway to the hanger. We're, uh, definitely not supposed to be in here....There's going to be two security androids, you should know. In the hanger." He waved his hands as though he intended to draw the map in the air.

Arizona stood, rigid and suddenly wary. "Query: Security....Androids? Won't they have metal reinforcements to prevent damage?" She asked quietly.

"Taking them down should be simple enough, though. " Tsare drew a gun from a holster at his side and waved it in the air as he explained, "Electric shocks. They only take two shots each and they're down. Expensive, but worth it. Kind of like the androids, haha!" He laughed, but it died down when Arizona only stared at him blankly. He cleared his throat before continuing, "And also, the person who owns this is, ah...The vengeful sort. It would probably be better for all of us if she doesn't see us, or, uh, our faces...Or knows our names, or sees the general direction that we leave in." He rubbed the back of his neck. "But I have the launch codes, so she shouldn't even notice us leaving."

Arizona shrugged a little, "Directive: Just open the door already." She was less interested now that she knew that the androids were supposed to be their only opposition. Tsare blinked at her for a moment, then nodded and cracked open the door, peering one way, then the other before he opened it completely and ushered them through.

[PerroCarne]

Calhoun looked the same way that Arizona looked when androids were brought up. At first nervous and then disappointed that there was not going to be much of a fight. Though he usually tended towards liking something going smoothly, he also liked things going to plan - and the pupilless man had made it sound incredibly like there would be trouble.

Past the door, there was indeed what the man had described. Two androids who guarded a bunker. There were multiple ships in it, though it was quite obvious what it pride was. In the middle of the room, stood a Dragon. Like its name would imply, the ship was long and thin, the front of it was elongated into a snout with wide tinted windows were the controls were. Its entire body was like a perfectly fitted puzzle, long thin compartments that could bend at the need of the pilot. Its landing gear even looked like the clawed feet of dragons from what was left of Leeri, the Vishe's home planet.

Unlike what the man described, there was another Vishe, this one female standing beneath the ship, barking at the androids in her native tongue. Unlike Calhoun, her skin was the color of slate and her fur was golden. Her eyes, however, were precisely the same blue and darted just as quickly around as the other Vishe's did. Calhoun could feel the fur on his neck and back raise again. He could tell just by the scent of her that she was someone on the wrong side of the war.

"We're taking the Dragon." Cartwright blurted from behind them, not seeming to care whether that was the plan or not. Calhoun didn't respond, though it wasn't clear whether he couldn't understand the creature or he was ignoring him. Either way, he was staring at the perfect piece of machinery as well.

[Altissa]

Arizona studied the droids with a scowl of distaste and an almost condescending tone. "Observation: They may be expensive, but they aren't the best model out there...And their armor is a little pathetic. I don't suppose that they have much of a chance, geared like this." She finally looked from the droid to their master, and if she'd been as furry as her captain, she'd have fluffed up too. Tsare, meanwhile, was in a panic.

"She's not supposed to be here. Ooohhh, man, I could've sworn she'd be out of town this week. If she's sees me - if she sees any of us...!" Tsare was hugging himself in fear, rocking back and forth. Arizona, without taking her eyes off of the Vishe woman, punched Tsare in the arm to snap him out of it. He fell silent immediately, then mumbled softly after a moment, "....Ow."

Arizona commented quietly, "Observation: I don't suppose that we'll need those launch codes." They just needed to get to the ship...Past the Vishe woman and into the ship, plus however much time it would take Cartwright to warm up the ship and take them out of here. She didn't realize it yet, but Arizona had wormed her way behind Calhoun, as though she could hide behind him. For once, she didn't seem eager to fight.

[PerroCarne]

Calhoun didn't seem to notice Arizona move behind him, but as his tail flicked it hit her leg. "Tsare. you take out the androids as planned." He told him. "Arizona, Cartwright, you go into the ship and start her up. I'll.... talk to this Vishe..."

Cartwright nodded and glanced at Arizona, taking her shoulder for a moment as he watched Calhoun pulled both of his swords. Each thin blade seemed to be a translucent blue in color - much like that of his eyes. It translated to the common tongue as "Vishe Sapphire" but the substance was more like a diamond in hardness and a steel in strength. It was virtually unbreakable and the Vishe had been known to cut missiles and bullets from the sky with the weapons before. "On my count. One. Two..." He glanced at the team that had complied. This would do them good. He would see where their loyalties laid.

The woman twitched her nose and held up a hand at the androids to make them stay silent and still. "We're not alone." she growled, glancing around. "There's a Poppy in our midst." She chuckled quietly as Calhoun's fur spiked even further. To his ears, it was a slur.

"Three."

((edit: violet hurt my eyes. >.< ))

[Altissa]

Arizona nodded at the order, a little relieved that she could keep out of the Vishe woman's sight for the time being. She glanced down at his tail, then finally realized the issue between the opposing Vishe. She awkwardly patted Calhoun's arm and mumbled, "Request: Do not be far behind us." The fact that she classified it as a request rather than a directive made it almost sweet.

She didn't want him to die in a fight or get too into it and forget about him, but she had few ways to vocalize that. She'd never give a directive to someone that she considered her leader, and she'd certainly never showed any concern for the leader of their last group...Though, in the last group, she hadn't been in this place. How hadn't she recognized it before? Arizona shook it off and turned to Cartwright with her sweet smile again. "Directive: Please be prepared to move quickly."

Tsare took a deep breath to try to steady himself before he accepted the order with a less-than-enthusiastic, "Yes, sir." He sounded about ready to wet himself, until he glanced over and saw that his companions were more battle-ready. Pride drove him to focus and point his gun with a more steely resolution that before. He already had his gun trained on the nearest android, and fired only part of a second after Calhoun finished his count, then fired again to - hopefully - finish it off.

Arizona, meanwhile, moved to the other android and slid past it so that it had difficulty pointing its gun at her in such proximity, then kicked high to slam into the bottom of its jaw. The android seemed stunned, but Tsare shot it twice to finish it off before Arizona could. She gave him a dirty look, and he gave her a mute apologetic shrug. She ignored it and gestured to Cartwright for them to get to the Dragon.


(Edit: *giggle* I'm just waiting for a chance to use DarkGoldenrod or olivedrab. Fun with colors! biggrin )

[PerroCarne]

The woman was drawing a gun as the androids both went down, she aimed first at the girl then at the insectoid and finally the pupilless man before her eyes found the Vishe. "General. I should be honored to be in your presence." she purred.

"I'm no longer in the military. The war is over." Calhoun and the female both seemed to realize the inaccuracy of the statement, and had the war been a hundred year behind them instead of less than a decade, maybe both of them would have chuckled.

"Your fur says otherwise." Instead of waiting for an answer, she pulled the trigger of her gun. Calhoun seemed only to flinch and the bullet ricocheted into the dark metal of an antique human vessel.

Cartwright had spread his wings and flew over to the dragon, landing on it and crawling down it until he found a button to press that lowered the loading bay and crawled inside, assuming the others would follow him. It took him only a minute to reach the control panel. As he stood, his eyes, which peered in most every direction, processed and translated every word before he reached down to start to press the buttons. If they were lucky, he wouldn't have to hack into the system to get it running.

[Altissa]

Arizona glanced back once before following Cartwright into the ship. She stood in the entrance of the loading bay, hopping from foot to foot and looking very impatient. Tsare stepped in beside her and holstered his gun before commenting to Arizona with a hint of amusement, "He'll be fine. We should get inside to make sure that he stays that way. If they wrap up their fight and he needs to leave, then we'd better be ready, don't you think?"

She glared at him and growled, "Denial: I am not worried about him!" Nonetheless, she followed him into the dragon.

Tsare shrugged easily, "Denial. You said it, not me."

Arizona slipped into the section just behind the control panel, trying not to get in Cartwright's way. "Query: Anything I can do to help?" The sooner they could leave the better.


(Sory so short. o_o; )

[PerroCarne]

Cartwright had positioned himself on only his back legs and both of his front and second pair of legs were flying around hitting buttons and punching in codes. "Nah. We're good. Is that Vishe on yet? The one we like..."

Calhoun was, in fact, not yet on the ship. He had taken a slice at the woman and and barely dodged a bullet to the head, though it had nicked his face. Like animals, they were both baring their teeth, showing the fangs that could be seen when Calhoun smiled. The female seemed to have longer fangs, and after a moment of display, leapt at him.

Her movement was so fast that it was almost hard to see as she dug a blade into the man's side, catching herself on her hands and flipping back onto her feet in time to block the next swing of the Captain's blade. Her blue eyes turned to look at him. "You're beat, Poppy."

Calhoun smirked slightly, having managed to get between her and the ship. He bowed slightly before he spun around and moved into the ship, flipping the switch to close the bay doors. He let out a whistle. "Let's get out of here. Tsare, how do we open the doors?" Despite the slice on his face and the knife in his side, he was speaking with perfect calm. The 'blood' that dripped down his face was a dull silver in color. Beneath this skin, it would look the same ice color as his eyes, but, like human blood, the atmosphere effect the appearance of it as it left his body.

Cartwright pressed a button and paused when it became very obvious that the engines had just come on. Like a real dragon, the monster of a ship seemed to let out a low purr.

[Altissa]

"Ovservation: Not yet." Arizona sighed, hunting for a window to peer out at Calhoun and his enemy. The woman was good - really good - and Arizona wished that she could help Calhoun...Given the risk of being recognized, though, she stilled her fighting frenzy to keep herself from charging out to help him.

The woman cringed when she saw the knife in Calhoun's side. Tsare grinned and patted her on the shoulder, about to say something until she elbowed him in the gut. Tsare coughed and stumbled backwards. Arizona returned her attention in the fight just in time to see Calhoun making his way into the Dragon.

Tsare coughed in response to Calhoun, then rubbed his stomach and grimaced at Arizona. He stumbled towards the panel just behind those that Cartwright needed, explaining simply, "Communications....All right, this should just take a...." He typed into the system a string of numbers and words, then leaned back smugly. "Done. They should be opening now..."

Arizona looked at the blood on Calhoun's face, "Apprehension: Are you all right? The knife looked like it went into your stomach pretty deeply, sir." The concern was evident in her eyes, though they often flicked over in the woman's general direction, as though Arizona was worried about her getting to them inside of the ship.


(By the way, the color of my character's words are normally their eye colors. XD )

[PerroCarne]

Calhoun steadied himself when the ship took a step forward. Like the dragon it looked like, the machine could walk on ground - though only for a short period. It moved through the door and then jumped into the air. The rockets could be found on the backs of its cheeks and in its hind feet.

Cartwright grinned, "We're out of this world. Were are we headed?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder.

The Vishe glanced at Arizona and smiled slightly. "I'm fine. I'll just put a bandage over it to stop the bleeding. I didn't get her blade though..." he pointed out as if that made everything better. As he pulled out the dagger, he wiped it clean on a sheet. "Pull up the job listings. We'll call Ri'al -- see if he knows of anyone who needs a good team."

((That's good to know! XD Mine... is the color I think ... represents them best. xD))

[Altissa]

Arizona automatically adjusted to the movement, though Tsare stumbled and ended up on his backside. Arizona's mouth twitched but she didn't comment. He stood up and looked from the computer to Calhoun. "Uuuh. I only knew the launch codes." He informed them.

Arizona rolled her eyes and pushed past him, then cheerfully added to Cartwright, "Statement: Excuse me Cart'!" She seemed happy that she'd get to spend some time with Cartwright in this compartment, since the computer and driving controls were together. Tsare was frustrated by her anger at him followed by her politeness to the bug, then mouthed to Calhoun, 'What did I do?'. Arizona typed on the computer, then paused and frowned, tapping her foot. "Observation: There is only one job currently on the list, though there's a hit on the table. Looks like the mark would be on Zinari, though. We could call Ri'al if you wish to get more information on that?" She offered.

Tsare whistled, suddenly interested. "Zinari? The mining planet? They've got tons of gold there! The whole place is underground, though. Hey, uh, Cartwright! You comfortable enough to park this baby through a hole in the ground?" He asked.

Arizona rolled her eyes. "Explanation: The place also has a fair amount of magnetic force, which makes weapons and sometimes androids behave oddly...Not to mention that some buildings are made of the metal mined there, so they are suspended by the magnetic field in midair, within the gigantic caverns that the world is made of."

Tsare blinked. "How did you know all that?!"
Arizona stared at him for a moment, then pointed the the computer screen slowly.