Planet Athens

As you land in this lovely paradise, you notice how very isolated it is. The sounds of birds squawking, and animals screeching... nature in every direction you look. Few residents live on this planet, but the ones that do are all peaceful and keep to themselves. The water on this planet you can drink straight from the puddles on the ground without consequence. Food is plentiful within the plants and wildlife. You feel a comforting harmony settle into you as you take a deep breath of fresh air and relax. There's something very intoxicating about this place.



Yasai's ship warped into the planet's atmosphere. He had a nervous look on his face as he looked around. He flicked a few switches as his ship headed towards the planet's surface. His ship's break panels opened up as he seat-belted himself in. He smirked and manually overrode the system so he could pilot the ship in. As fire engulfed the exterior of his vessel, he cheered and flicked on his music player. "I love Stratis drops!!!!"

Travis nodded. "Yeah, hopefully in a somewhat bigger ship then a fighter though.. not sure I'd want to take on a battleship." Travis spoke as his ship went into warp, coming out of warp some time after Yasai's Stratis drop, into the planet's orbit. "There, that was not too bad, was it?" he spoke as he prepped the ship to enter the atmosphere.

Espin gave a deep breath, swallowing hard around the knot in her throat, and glaring at the back of his seat. "Sure, easy as pie," she snapped lowly, gripping to the side handles of her chair. She hated warp speed. But her discomfort was not in vain if it meant catching Yasai and getting her bounty. She just hoped they landed soon. She was looking forward to having her feet on solid ground again.

The fire trail burning into the atmosphere could be seen from hundreds of miles away, Yasai still in his chair blasting his music, reached into his pocket and pulled out a flask. as he slowly steered the ship into the right area of the planet he took a swig and wiped his lips. "looks like this day is almost over! just one last trade, and then off to...well I'm not quite sure but I guess ill find a meteor to sleep on for now.. man this sucks.."

Travis motions to the ball of fire in the atmosphere "I assume that's your precious catch" he spoke as he adjusted course to follow "Gonna hang back a bit, I would rather him not see us coming" he said as he eased up on his entry trying to stay out of sight, once through the atmosphere he stay out of radar range of yasai, setting his ship down in a small valley near where yasai had landed "well looks like we walk from here"

"Fine with me," Espin muttered, pulling herself up out of the second seat of the ship as the glass opened up. The first thing she noticed was the sweet-smelling air, warmed by the sun, and a small breeze rustling the trees and grass. She hopped down from the ship, landing smoothly on the grass and stretching with a groan. "Damn, that feels good." she breathed. She then paused, looking skyward as she noticed another ship entering the atmosphere. This one was large... and silver. "A Federation ship." she called to Travis.

Travis was already under the ship with its small weapons cache open, already having strapped on a belt, with a knife and a pistol holster on it,a walter p99 holstered inside it, tucking an extra mag in the spot on the holster as he heard Espin call out about the federation ship, quickly grabbing a pair of binoculars runs out from under the ship and uses them to look at the ship coming in he let out a sigh "...A dreadnought class battleship eh? it predates the newer versions however... which means maybe the nebula 5.. I can not say for sure" he spoke tucking the binoculars in has jacket "That ship is probably coming in for repairs, that's the only reason i can think of, that a starship that size would enter the atmosphere... so we can probably avoid them...just the same though...lets get Yasai as quickly as possible, If that is who i think it is...It's captain is not a man we want to cross"

Yasai watched as his ship approached a dangerously low level before activating his landing thrusters. The ship slowed to a fall comparable too a feather as it touched down with a soft thud. Yasai unbuckled, stood up and walked towards the side door as he stretched. Opening the door a metal ramp slid down to the ground and he began to whistle as he walked down towards the ground with a cocky pep in his step while twirling a flare gun around in his fingers. He squinted as he looked at the forest around him. "Damn those ugly lizard people sure blend in" he fired the flare gun into the air sending a red cluster into the sky just as he realized the federation ship entering the atmosphere. "And now we wait...oh...crap..."

Espin narrowed her eyes at the over-flying Federation ship, watching it go by and towards where Yasai's ship had landed. She frowned, checked her needles and knives, then nodded at Travis. "Then let's get my bounty to them before they decide to leave. Looks like I'm gonna get my payment sooner than I planned." she grinned, heading towards where Yasai's ship had fallen.

"To them?, I'll help you catch him, but my Federation dealings are done,
secondhand I guess you could say... I will not be accompanying you to that ship. We will catch him, then I will wait for you back at the ship we came in." Travis spoke after he had turned and followed her in the direction of where Yasai's ship had landed.

Yasai ran back into his ship, and panicked as he lowered the back ramp. "I can't go to prison.. I'm too pretty!" He froze for a moment rubbing the scruff on his face with a shiver as if thinking what would happen too him. Snapping out of it, he fast walked back into his ship and started to push a large crate out and down the ramp.

Just as he was pushing the crate down the ramp, several Ra'Najeet began to appear from within the trees, watching him with their weapons trained on him. Some of them had crossbows, some had spears, others had knives and swords. It seemed that weapons like guns were not something Ra'Najeet liked to use. They watched him as they crowded around the ramp of his ship, speaking in their own language as they waited for him to finish.

Espin made it to Yasai's ship just in the nick of time, seeing several of her people crowding around Yasai's ship to do the dealings. She crouched in the trees and narrowed her eyes. "He's selling Federation grade parts to my people?" she whispered in confusion. "Why? My people would never have need for such things." She pulled her needles out from their belt around her thighs and slid them between her fingers, wetting the tips of a few of them on her tongue slowly. "I should kill him this time. Then he can't run." she hissed, watching and waiting for his feet to touch the ground.

Travis gently put his hand on Espin's shoulder as if telling her to hold up "..I don't think that is federation grade parts of any kind... the box is making noises" he spoke as he crouched next to her "I know you do not strike me as the...patient type.. but, don't be so quick to rush in"

Yasai rushed the exchange after seeing the ship. He got the large crate off his ship and looked at the group of pirates with a half smile. "There you go, fresh meat for your people, so now that we're all happy... I'm going to go!"

Espin watched the exchange, her brows knitting together. "Meat..? He's giving my people fresh meat?" she asked softly. She felt something tug in her chest, and she frowned, before suddenly shrugging off Travis' hand from her shoulder and stood, moving out from the brush and pointing a needle at Yasai. "Stop right there!" she yelled, the Ra'Najeet around him turning to look at her. She said something to them in their native language, a series of grunts, hisses and long syllables, waited for them to answer, then she looked at Yasai again. "You're giving them meat without adequate payment."

"..Shit" travis uttered to himself as he bolted towards Espin, wrapping his arm around her waist as he spun around both of them ending up behind a large bolder, just as a gunshot ricocheted in the spot Espin had been standing, his eyes locked on the ridges of the valley above them "..Damn it woman, stop being so impulsive" multiple glares from rifle scopes could be seen among the rocks above "..four..five..six" he spoke as if counting them before glancing at Yasai and the ones on the ground with him "...that quite a bit of muscle for a food exchange..." he spoke as he looked over at Espin "How much exactly is the bounty on his head?"

Espin hadn't been prepared to be jerked away into the rocks, and hit her head lightly against one of them when Travis pulled her down. She winced, rubbed the back of her head, then looked at Travis angrily, despite the sounds of bullets. "A million credits or something like that! It's definitely not pocket change!" she snapped. "Jesus... You have a knack for over-reacting, you know that?" She peered around the rocks, happy to see that her people had managed to take their trade and run. Her people were fast and stealthy, they could survive a lot, including snipers. "We weren't the only ones who followed him here, obviously."

Yasai looked over in Espin's direction after hearing the gunshot, studying them for a moment before smiling and walking back into his ship, as the ramp closed he shouted too out to them. "Alright lady, your really starting to get on my nerves!" He sat quickly in his seat and fired up his ships thrusters as he belted in, he grumbled too himself. "She is persistent, I'll give her that...in a sexy way..but still..green, I don't think I can get past the green scaliness!"

Travis sighed a little "Yeah sure, you're welcome, it was my pleasure not to let you get shot..." he spoke, shaking his head a little with a small laugh as he watched her people run off, before noting that they had stopped just short of the entrance to the valley. "..Well I think they're after your bounty. It appears they are just regrouping, I am willing to bet the snipers in the rocks are working with your people. Apparently, Yasai doesn't have as many friends as he pretends. Although, I can understand the double cross; why pay for food, when the distributor is worth so much in bounty? Collect the food, collect the bounty... two birds, one stone." he spoke, picking up a rock the size of a base ball and tossing it out from behind their cover. Before it even hit the ground, it was blown to bits by a sniper round. "Trigger happy, too."

Espin sighed with a roll of her eyes. "They're my people. They won't shoot at me. We don't do that to one another. If anything, they're aiming for you." she hissed at Travis, hearing Yasai's ship starting up. "He's going to get away! We can't just hide back here like cowards!"

Yasai laughed as his ramp sealed shut and started to take off. "Sorry Darlin, not today, you keep following me though and I might not be so nice." He felt his ship start to lift as he charted course back to the station.

Travis sighed having become quite annoyed with Espin's attitude "You know what, you do what you want princess, but you better move fast, his ship is lifting off the ground" he motioned to the gunshot mark in the spot she had been standing before he grabbed her "I hope your right though..cause I can totally see how that was aimed for me.."he added as he pushed past her in the direction away from Yasai towards the republic fighter ship, but kept behind cover and out of sight of the scope glares.

Espin watched Travis go, then looked back over at Yasai's ship, watching it start to hover over the ground as it was taking off. She cursed low under her breath, then broke into a sprint out from behind the rocks. Several bullet shots rang out and just missed her legs and head by inches. She couldn't believe her own people were shooting at her! But then again, it was amazing what some people would do for a good bounty. And Yasai's was a great one. She sprinted until she was just under his landing gear, then jumped, growling as she hooked her hands onto the foot of the landing stand, then pulled herself up. As she moved, another shot rang out, and she cried out in pain as the bullet seared straight through her shoulder blade and out the other side, ricocheting off of Yasai's hull. She clutched at her shoulder with her free hand, then climbed up into the landing gear port, hoisting herself up just as the landing gear was retracting. Once the doors closed and airlocked shut, she screamed out a raging, "FUCK!" as she curled around her injured shoulder.

Travis having circled back around up into the rocks, he managed to take out the snipers, and had made it back down to where the two pirates that received the box had fallen back to. One now dead on the ground, the other having gotten away, travis leaned gently against the box of live stock, tacking a drag from a cigarette he took off one of the bodies as he watched up into the sky at the little spec that was now yasai ship as it had left the atmosphere a moment before flipping the cigarette into the ground tagging the box with a republic pick up sensor, then returned to the ship taking off back in the direction of the station omega

---

The landing was a little rougher than usual, but spared the Nebula Five any more additional damages. Elena waited for the ramp to lower before taking a step out and breathing in the fresh air. It was sweet-smelling, and natural... not the filtered, artificial oxygen that the ship produced that always smelled of oil and machinery, and sweaty soldiers. She smiled peacefully with her eyes closed as the breeze ruffled her jacket and dislodged a few strands of hair from her ponytail, just breathing deeply. She missed being on land. She almost missed Earth... except that it had become a bit of a mess lately. She finally looked over her shoulder at Jonah, stepping aside to let him disembark first. "There is a small bizarre where we can buy supplies just a few miles East, sir. We can take the hover cars."

Jonah nodded slowly as he stood with his hands behind his back on the ramp beside her, looking over the and, "Yes" he said with a small frown, then looked down to his feet, "We should get the engineers to come with us, see what they need. Will you be driving with me or in your own car?" he asked, looking sideways at her.

Elena glanced at him again, then cleared her throat and straightened up, despite the soft blush on her cheeks. "I should accompany the engineers. Lord knows they are incapable of driving safely." she said, looking ahead and biting her lip. She headed down the ramp slowly, pausing when her boots crunched the grass at the bottom. "Unless you would insist I come with you, sir?" she asked, almost hopefully.

Jonah looked down the ramp at her for a few long moments before he walked down after her, his hands still behind his back as he stood straight, "Wel, you are not on my ship right now, Sergent. I cannot pretend I can insist you to do anything out here on your own time off our base" he smirked, nudging her a little as he walked passed her, "I have a feeling you will do exactly as you wish to" he smiled, looking over his shoulder at her, "Though company is always nice" he said, looking forward again and walking around the side of the large ship to the side cargo compartments, raising his hands for the hatch to lower, watching it as it did, revealing the rows of hovercars they had stored.

Elena smiled a little at Jonah's back as he walked away, moving to follow him to the side storage and peering in at the hovercars, their bright red paint and silver 'Federation' lettering blaring at them under the sunlight. She stepped up the ramp into the unit and grabbed a hover car, sliding into the driver's seat and grinning at Jonah. "In that case, I insist that you come with me, sir. We can let the engineers fend for themselves." she winked. 

Jonah raised his eyebrow and gave a small smirk, moving to take his hat off before he slid into the passenger seat, "And the tables turn, I see." he said, looking ahead and leaning back, pulling the hood down as he did. He turned to look at her then, giving her a small mocking smile, "You arent going to drive like a careful woman, right?"

"When have I ever driven one of these carefully, Jonah?" Elena asked softly, raising a brow at him playfully before revving up the engine and pulling out of the ship's storage bay with a jerk of the throttle, sending them flying over the grass and away from the Nebula Five. She let out a whoop as they went, gripping the steering wheel with both hands as she let their speed climb.

Jonah chuckled as he buckled himself in and looked out the glass panel, seeing some of the engineers get into the bigger cars with storage units attached for anything they needed. He looked back to her and smirked again, "I thought you said you weren't going to drive like a woman? Are you going to let them beat us?" he asked, looking back again, "They are gaining on you."

Elena let out a laugh. "Are you condoning illegal driving practices, Major General?" she asked, glancing in her mirror at the truck behind her. She grinned, floored the acceleration, and took off over some rolling hills, laughing out loudly as the hover car was rocked and jumped by the landscape. "How's this?" she asked Jonah, making a sharp turn to avoid a large rock.

Jonah smirked as he held on tightly, looking sideways at her, "Its okay. For a girl" he grinned. He took his hat off and looked back at the other cars, "You are beginning to lose them at least. Come on, you can go faster than this, lets lose them all together, hm?" he asked, looking back at her, "Show me what you got..."

Elena glanced at Jonah again with a grin, but something in the expression on his face made her pause. Her eyes locked on his, her smiling falling away and her cheeks turning pink. Something in her chest fluttered, then she seemed to remember what she was doing just as the front of the hover car hit a rock. She yelped, jumping in her seat and putting on the breaks a little. She cleared her throat, her cheeks a blazing red now, before she put the speed back on and tried to concentrate more on driving.

Jonah noted her blush as they bumped into the rock, making him drop his hat to hold on. He grinned and gave a chuckle, shaking his head and leaning back in his seat, "Try and not kill us, hm?" he smirked, looking back out the window again, "You know I am teasing you, you are a fine driver, Elena"

"I-I know.." Elena stuttered, though her blush didn't dissipate. She gripped the steering wheel tighter in both hands, slowing the hover car as they neared the local town and the marketplace there. She pulled them to a stop, parking nearby, then stepped out as the doors hissed open. She gave a stretch so she had an excuse to keep her back to Jonah, then hurried on. "Well, let's see what we can find." she said quickly.

Jonah got out of the car and pushed the door closed, leaning on it and looking at her, his hat in his hands, "Are you alright?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, "You arent pissed at me for teasing you are you?" he asked as he put his hat on and pushed off the car, walking to her and nudging her with a smirk, "Am I to apologize?"

Elena stumbled a little, then straightened up and shook her head. "No, sir, I'm not upset at you. Teasing comes with the territory of being in the service. You have to have a thick skin." she said with a clear of her throat. "No, no need to apologize. I'm fine." She held her chin up at him a little, then turned to continue on and nearly ran into someone, making her stutter and catch her hat as it fell off her head.

Jonah reached forward to take her arm, steadying her and looking to the man she bumped into "Sorry" he mumbled, pushing passed him and turning to her, taking her hat from her and then taking his own off, "We dont need these out here anyway" he smirked, "You okay? Come on.." he nodded, taking her hand and leading her through the people so they wouldnt get separated.

Out of the crowd that Jonah was walking away from, Grem came rushing. He was holding Jonah's wallet, and running at Jonah at a very fast speed. With every swift step of his run, nuts and bolts were falling out of his pockets. His goggles bounced on his neck, and his heavy breathing could be heard over his feet running along the hard pressed dirt. As he got closer, he started to yell to Jonah, his bright blue eyes centered on the couple, and a smile on his face as he knew he was finally getting their attention. "Sir! Sir, your wallet, I think you dropped this when that man bumped into you!" Grem stood in front of him, with a smudge of grease on his face, and work gloves hanging from his back pocket, his black shirt ripped and tattered from over use. Yet he smelled of diesel and roses.

Elena turned to look at Grem as he came running at them, and she instantly placed her hand on her pistol, moving to stand in front of Jonah protectively. "Slow down, lad. You have no idea who you are approaching." she said with a hint of warning in her tone.

Jonah bit his lip a little to stop a smirk as he watched Elena. He placed a hand on the small of her back and leaned into her ear, "Its alright, Sergeant, I got it, im a big boy" he smiled, stepping beside her and raising his brow to the man his expression going blank again, "My wallet, hm?" he asked, moving to hold his hand out slowly.

Grem dropped the wallet in his hand gently, and smiled at the two of them. His light blue, strange eyes seemed to almost glow against his tan complexion. He itched his shoulder through a torn hole in his shirt for a minute, and then put his hand out to Elena as if offering it for a hand shake. "My name is Grem. Sorry about running up on you like that, I've just been in a hurry trying to find my way back to the space station now that I'm done with my contracts here. I came down with 2 tons of titanium alloy, used it all to patch up that last ship that came here, yet without any real weight I'm still having a hard time finding someone who has the ability to fly me out."

Elena frowned at his proffered handshake, but she removed her hand from her pistol after buckling it back in, and shook his hand professionally. "Apology accepted... Grem." she said. That was a strange name. She noted his cat-like eyes and grungy appearance, and when she withdrew her hand, she brushed it off on her handkerchief. "Well, we're here on official Federation business, so I'm afraid you'll have to find someone else to be your chauffeurs. Thank you for returning the Major General's wallet."

“Yes, thank you” Jonah said with a small smile as he opened his wallet and looked inside. He pulled out a few solid gold coins and reached to hand them to Grem, “For your trouble. Perhaps this will get you your ride” he nodded as he folded his wallet up with the other hand and put it back into his pocket, “The sergeant and I have business to attend to now, though” he smiled.

Grem took a step back and refused the offering with a pleasant smile. "I make a good living, and I learned never to take money I didn't earn. Thank you though for your consideration. I hear there is a Titan class battle cruiser scheduled to come in a few days that needs a plasma fusion upgrade, and small communication repairs throughout the ship after a battle they survived. I'll hitch a ride with them and fix their ship for payment. Thank you for the small talk, have a safe journey you two." He turned and started to walk back towards the crowd as he dusted off his goggles lenses.

Elena watched him starting to walk away, folding her arms and tilting her head. She looked up at Jonah, then frowned and shook her head. "I know what you're thinking, and we don't need him. We have enough mechanics on your ship as it is." she said, turning to continue on. "Besides, you heard him; he'll be fine."

"Oh you think you know me so well hm?" Jonah asked as he chuckled and turned, putting the coins back into his pocket as he followed her, "Ii would like to think I still have an air of mystery about me, no?" he asked. He looked around as they got to the center of the marketplace, "Okay, so do you remember where the scrapyard is? Thats where we are meeting our men for the repair materials, so they can take them back"

Grem walked over to the crowd, and into a hut with a scrapped fusion rod hoisted outside the tents door. This was obviously where he could be found if he was needed. As he walked in he flipped the make shift rusted sheet of tin hanging on the side of the hut to closed.



Current Posting Order For Active Stages

Stage 1 Elena, Jonah, Grem: Elena



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