Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Follow me," said Mirri. She led KC through the ship down to a hallway. "This whole hallway is where people sleep." She walked to the end, where there was a door that led to the engine room. She stopped. To her left was a small walk space, with a port hole at the end. She walked into the space and turned to the right, and there was a washer & dryer side by side. She opened the dryer, and took out seemingly random clothes. "They're done. These are mine. Could you carry them?" She dropped them into KC's arms. She walked to a door, opposite of the washer/dryer. She opened it and walked in. There was a linen closet. Mirri took a good look at KC, approximating size. She took out 3 sets of outfits, which were mostly neutral colors; greens, browns, greys, blues, and any mixture of the 4. Mirri & KC managed to squeeze by so Mirri could lead. She walked about half way down the hall. She opened a door.

The room was modest; not a closet, but not a mansion. It contained, 2 end tables, 2 beds, 2 shelves on the wall. Down the center of the room was clear with a large cushion on the floor at the end, under another porthole, larger then the washer/dryer one though. The left and right were symmetrical, but the left side was lived in. The room was wide enough to fit the central path, plus 2 beds and and 2 end tables. Along the hull wall were the shelves, up above the foot of the bed. Mirri came in and put KC's clothes on the right bed. She then took her clothes from KC and put them in drawers under the bed.

"Welcome to our rooms." said Mirri, closing the door. "Here, you should change into the clothes I brought you." She began, to take off her leather armor and weapons, which she shoved into a dresser. She put her swords behind the bed, and the dagger between the end table and bed, for quick access. She then took off the tunic below the armor, now naked. She put that in a basket, and began putting on new clothes.

"First of all, its called washing the deck. Unless you'll be scrubbing the floors with fire, don't worry. I don't even know why you're getting so dressed up. Put some of those bland tunics on. When we go to a town, you can get better clothes. And if you want them fire proofed, ill bring you to Winston. He's a mage and he should be able to enchant anything you need. After we clean the deck."

"Ok. I was joking about the scrubbing with fire. Octavian would kill you without remorse. Oh, and you shouldn't have shoes on. They just scuff it up more. Follow me." Mirri left the room and led KC down the hall and up to the main deck. There were already some mops, brooms, buckets, and pans. Someone was already there.

A man was brushing off branches and twigs from the flight through the forest. He wore a green tunic, but the blandness didn't take away from the fact that he was good looking. It actually let him show off his musclesHe was born with the kind of good looking that people normally have to sell their souls for. No matter what he wore, he would look good. He could be shoveling manure for hours then dig in trash, not having wiped off anything during those jobs, and people would still be fawning over him. "Hey Mirri," said the man. "Hey Paul." answered Mirri. "KC, this is Paul, a soldier. Paul this is KC, the new crew member. KC grab a broom and help get rid of the debris, then we can mop the floor."

The hallway was large and multilayered. opulent brass-colored railings on the balconies hung above them shined in the light of the many lamps on the walls. doorways led to turret bays or ammo storage, and above bedrooms. behind them the hall stretched back to a mass of gold-colored machinery, probably the engines. ahead the orange glow of the bridge shined through a pair of naval double doors.

"But, unlike a Wolven, she'll see no more." said Octavian, "It's a great ship but what is there to do. With a up to a 21 man crew, how do you expect to run this in battle efficiently. If, as I think you are, looking for a fight, you'll need a larger crew. You have piloted this nicely, but I doubt you could simultaneously drive, target and shoot. I'd say, including my crew, you'd need about 20 more people at least, 30-50 more, for optimal running. But business aside, what could I do for you sir?" Octavian emphasized the last word and threw up a mock salute.

Mirri put away the cleaning equipment, and said, "I'll be going to sleep now." She went to her room, leaving Paul and KC with Surika on the main deck.

"Heh, funny. It's true. Dauntless is only a chunk of armor in combat right now. I'm recruiting people into the Chronos navy. I was headed for Gaia City, but from what I hear when I leave my ship, nobody thinks it's a City... It's the capital of the elves. Still, Gaia was a center of trade in my time, and every city has a hidden storehouse there. If I could get to mine, I'd have enough Chronos power gems to power a fleet! Arc's storehouse is available to me as well, as the Head Administrator of Arc gave me the vault before he died at the hands of Pandora soldiers. If you want to change the world for the better, I'll share the Dauntless with you and your men. If you just want to kill me and take the last shred of Chronos... which I really don't want it to come to, I'll fight to my last breath." President Sek, last ruler of Chronos stated, his last few sentences held a sad tone to them.

However, if what he said was true, (and it was,) then there were millions of Chronos gems sealed away somewhere under Gaia. Sek wasn't aware of their worth, but a horde like that could buy pretty much anything, not to mention the Vault of Arc, which supposedly held more gold than any man in this world had ever known. Such large and legendary treasures were regarded as rumors of the more advanced past, but here was a man from that time, implying that he knew exactly where it was.

---

Somewhere in Eden, Morris Evelson felt a creeping sensation of dread, like an old enemy had returned, and wanted to break all he had created.

"Now, lemme get one thing straight," said Octavian as his 3 subordinates faned out around the bridge inspecting. The two technicians sat down at piloting and navigation stations, and began to inspect the controls, flare jets to see reactions. "I'm no mercenary. I am a simple trader, not affliated with any city. Of course, Chronos is no longer a city; so technically, I'm in the clear allying with you. If I were you, I'd not represent the Rubble of Chronos. Be an independent till you get those gems. People won't like an ex-world power rising up again. Trust me." Octavian had the demeanor of a teacher lecturing a student at the moment.