"I can try Cap'n.... Gorram piece of...." Replied Redge. Moving over to a small console built into the wall, Redge typed in some technical commands and began to rewire a few coloured wires beneath the main engine. For a moment the engine appears as if it would die on them, but suddenly a whoose noise was heard the the hum of the engine grew louder.
"That be as fast as she'll go Cap'n." He said back to the bridge.
Originally posted by Aliies
"If that common interest is running gorram-heck outta here then by all means!" the squeal of the door finally closing pierced his ears, forcing him to stick a finger in one to deaden the sound."Awwright, lets get moiving!" he raced up to the bridge, bouncing off the rails and walls as he went, settling down into the chair and strapping up, the engines began to vibrate hazardously into life.
"ETA to takeoff, two minutes thirty! Can you speed that up a little?" he called in to Redge.
All the people moving with fluidity and focus was a comforting sight. Backgrounds was an issue to worry about later. Seeing that nobody but Jax headed for the cockpit, Goins stuck to habit and took seat in the pilot chair. "Where to, Skipper?"
Maggie stepped out of the way for the man to pass her and gave up trying to address the captain at such a pressing time so she walked out of the cockpit and toward Dom, steadying herself as the ship rocked slightly to her right, "You've been on a ship before?" She asked the equally calm man infront of her.
Dom smiled and replied to Maggie. "Heh, a few times here and there... I've been shuttled all throughout the 'verse doin all sorts of crazy jobs."
Dom then handed Maggie a handful of spare random bolts and gun parts.
"heh, i always seem to have leftover's ...Ah well! " *he smirked*
"What about you? you been on a ship before?"
Maggie put the spares into a compartment in her satchel and looked back to Dom, nodding slightly.
"Uh huh, I'm an ex mercenary...I took to the life of a shepherd after a life of violence almost literally put me to death both physically and mentally. Though it's been a few years since I've been on a ship."
"Its nice that you can find the time to sit around and chat!" Jax called over the shrill beeping of a dozen warning buzzers telling him that to take off so suddenly was a mistake, naturally he ignored them, all but one...
The ship's docking clamps had been engaged, meaning they had I.D'ed the ship and had impounded it right from underneath them, there was only one option... He had to call in a favor.
Punching in a few commands here and there, shimmying between the flight sticks, the navi-comp and the communication relay, Jacques called up the officer in the control tower.
"Firefly Lorinda stand down all engine activity and proceed to open your cargo bay doors for inspection in suspicion of harboring a known fugitive, non-compliance will result in the immediate decommision of your vessel, do you respond." the man said it like clockwork, the video feed showed him looking away at a control panel and not at Jax.
"Thre words; Wild-Flamingo-I.O.U's" Jax said simply, he chuckled as the officer sighed heavily into the microphone.
"Consider us even then, you old bastard..." the control tower replied, moments after the ship's clamps disengaged and the Lorinda hovered gracefully off of the landing platform with dozens of Alliance federals scurrying around the base, firing light arms at the hull like shooting a rhino with a BB gun.
Just to mix things up, the giggling captain kicked the vectors into full drive, sending a non-lethal blast of hot air down at the men and women, knocking them all off their feet before he kicked in the drive and broke atmo.
Naturally, the controll tower fed half-hearted directions to the gunships that searched for the Lorinda; by the time they had found her trail, she was already at full burn and into the black.
-------
He spent a few minutes in silence, lewaning back in the chair and mulling over just how slow his response time was getting, and that these favors he had earned in earlier years were beginnning to run dry, seeing as persephone was hostile ground for him his career outlook was drastically bleak for the forseeable future.
As suddenly as anything, Jax spun around and faced the other two who had stood behind him during all of that.
"Who's hungry?" he leapt up quickly and passed them, down the stair before anyone could reply, busying himself with alliance ration-bars in the kitchen, of course they were obviously stolen.
Khang walked into the kitchen and sat down, wasn't much for him to be doing at the moment. Seemed like the captain had a few tricks up his sleeve to get away from the Feds, men like that usually led....interesting...lives. He decided to get a feel for the man.
"So, was that what you'd call a 'usual' departure, if you don't mind me askin'?" he said.
"Yeah, last time they sent postcards, tryign to get me to come back in a straght jacket..." he said idly, not really caring if he made sense or not.
Usinga mortar, he ground the ration slabs into a powder and reconstitued them into a rich nutrient soup; not the best flavor around but it had everything you need in it. He made enough for everyone, so long as he had counted right... In a moment he felt that it might be proper to actually explore his own ship and find out just who the heck had joined him.
Redge waltzed into the kitchen, his face amuck with grease and dust. He took a cloth from a pocket and wiped his face. This did nothing except smudge the grease and take off a thin layer of dust. He stood by the door. "We'll be needin' some new parts fer that engine of yers, Cap'n. If you intend to keep flyin' straight 'n' true that is. I can tell you the technical side of it, if yer wantin' to hear it." He said.
Goins was a bit surprised by a captain who piloted his own boat. Most people in that position whom he had encountered considered themselves above such a menial task and tended to hire jocks for the purpose.
Even more surprising was Jax's impulse to rush off the bridge and leave a total stranger at the helm of his boat... to cook?
Goins remained seated and took his time to study any controls that he could find.
Jax paused at the question, looking blankly at Khang.
"I'd rather not talk about it... Let's leave it at that" he said grimly, then turning to the greasy-mess of a man known as Redge, he put up a finger each time he made a point, counting; "Women, booze, money... Technical information doesn't even equate enough of an interest on my part."
He took one of the bowls of richly-smelling protien soup, adding a mountain of paprika and salt before taking a slurp from a ladle, the twitch in his eye was not very assuring of it's taste.
"Not bad..."
Khang gave a slight nod, accepting the man's privacy. In his experience, everyone had their own stories, not many liked to share.
He looked up and noticed the woman who had gotten on board earlier enter the room. A thought occurred that he wasn't actually sure how many people were on the boat, guess that would come later.
Redge sighed. "Damn youngins and their... *grumble grumble*" He mumbled to himself, grabbing himself a loaf of bread that appeared stale he bit into it, its crust crunching under the power of his surprisingly intact teeth. "Wouldn't hap'n to have a hammock I could up in the engine room do ya? I feel most at home near a noisy engine and I wouldn't be wantin' everyone to go without quarters or nuthin'." Said Redge.
Maggie had since let her nerves calm somewhat as she noticed a pair of eyes wander across her form. She in turn took in the man's appearance and made a note to speak to him later as she walked over to the stove and a very unconvincing 'cook'.
She unslung her satchel and let it fall to the bench next to the grotty stove as she looked to the man, "May I?"
"By all means!" he said to both Redge and to Maggie, "A hammock for you and a kitchen for you" he smiled stupidly, the rich nutrient soup dribbled down his chin, he didn't even seem to notice.
As his makeshift goatee dripped the last of his recent take of the shoddy meal Jax leant his neck to the side, issuing a bone-sickening series of crunch and pop noises; remnants from his miraculous escape from the fire ladders, though that kind of thing seemed natural for this man as it didn't bother him any further.
As soon as Maggie drew near the grimy stove, as if it had a sentient presence it's front grill broke free and a pile of rust and dried grease poured out.
"Uhh, yeah... It does that..." he muttered idly, cringing again as he slurped his sickly creation.
Maggie's eyebrow rose and she stepped over the mess to crane her somewhat elegant yet muscular frame over the pot, she sniffed it and didnt even blink as the 'interesting' scent hit her nostrils. Her left hand; seemingly with a mind of its own, dove swiftly into the open satchel to retreive two small vials and a small pouch. Maggie then emptied small amounts from each of the three containers into the 'stew'. She then replaced the stoppers nimbly with her right hand and tied up the string on the satchel as her left hand shot back into the satchel and produced an airtight container.
Maggie very quickly emptied half of the containers contents into the stew and gave it a good stir. Within less than a minute the 'interesting' smell became quite a pleasant one.
She turned back to Jax and smiled slightly, "Give that a try." She suggested.