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Description

The Sumpter from the Rockpig came into land in the docking bay and the ramp lowered, allowing Kazlaena and Pri to exit. As they headed down the hall on D deck, laughing and giggling, Jack came out of the amenities room at the end.

                "Sa mallow, sa mallow," Kazlaena came racing up to him. " 'ow come you are all soaked?"

                "The wash basin is screwed up, blasted me in the face from beneath the faucet. . ." Jack looked a little disappointed for a sec, then gave her an inquisitive stare. "Did you mess with it?"

                "Um, nooo." Kazlaena pleaded innocence.

                "I think you did." Jack reached in and grabbed her, feeling her squirm in his grasp.

                "Not me, not me." Kazlaena tried to wriggle free, before using her nose to poke at his ear.

                "Unhand Sheriff." Pri said as she walked up and tried to free Kazlaena.

                "Sheriff? Uh, Pri?" Jack looked at her curiously.

                "Yes?" She asked.

                "You uh, your. . .eyes. . ."

                Pri had forgotten about the cosmetics on her eyes and a blast of embarrassment radiated through her.

                Oh no... She realized she had walked past so many of the Rockpig's crew, getting peculiar, even curious looks, but nothing that had made her feel uncomfortable.

                "Isn't Pri so pretty like sat?" Kazlaena said as Jack set her down slowly, still staring at Pri as she hid her face.

                "Uh, yeah, like wow. . ." Jack spoke slowly, then reached up to pull her hands down so he could see her eyes again. "Good to see you trying new things." He said softly.

                "New look does harbor interest. Perhaps future plans will include more new things." Pri said back and Jack felt some enthusiasm in her voice.

                He gave her a wink, then tickled at her belly as Kazlaena grasped one of his arms and tried to hold him back. Pri took hold of the other arm, then used her free hand too rub her knuckle over his head.

                “Grrrrrrr. Ape man go rage mode. Hur-a-hur-a-hur.” Jack growled as he partly broke free, somewhat due to Kazlaenas laughter making her loose her grip.

    He managed to get hold of Pri's tail with the Vandean clinging to his torso. Pri let him go, mouth slightly agape, hoping he would release his grasp on her tail. Jack took her tail and brushed her chin with her own tail feathers a few times, mimicking painting a bit. He then handed Pri her own tail and picked the Vandean up, tickling her silly. Pri looked at her tail for a moment, then let it go so she could hide her face and her laughter at the ridiculousness of the situation.

                "So, did you two have fun or what?" Jack asked with interest.

                "We did, we did," Kazlaena said, taking his hand as they headed up the hall.

                "Time was well spent." Pri leaned against him momentarily, letting out a bit of a purr before they hit Kazlaena's quarters and Kazlaena darted in.

                "Um, 'ey, Valeria 'as sa gift for you."

                "Oh?" Jack saw her open her pack and hand him a bag.

                Jack took it and saw a plastic bag of walnuts inside, letting out a bit of a sigh. He saw a card that read 'Keep crushing nuts boyo'.

                "Um?" Kazlaena looked at him.

                "My fav. . ." Jack replied half-heartedly.

                "Ok." Kazlaena shrugged, not really understanding.

                "Well, I'm glad you two had fun," Jack bumped fists with Kazlaena and patted Pri's stomach. "You really did, yeah?" He asked Pri quietly.

                "I did." Pri smiled, resting a hand over her pocket containing her commpad.

                "I hope you continue to try new things Pri." Jack said. "I like to see you smile; we all do. You might not think it, but you have a beautiful look to you when you’re happy and smiling." He gave her shoulder a pat. “I’ll catch up with you before the meeting.” Pri nodded and he and headed out.

                When they had split back to their own quarters, Pri opened her commpad and looked at the photos Valeria had captured of her. All of them were of her enjoying activities and smiling, something she would likely have avoided otherwise. She stopped at the last one, seeing herself with bright eyes and a beaming smile, recoiling in surprise over a simple board game they had been playing. She glanced at the text that had accompanied the photos.

                "Anytime you think you won't have fun or enjoy something with others, just look at these photos sweetie. You were the brightest star in that room today."

                Pri took a breath and held the commpad to her chest, feeling a welcome stir in her core as she thought of both Jack and Valeria’s words. She smiled brightly and nodded to herself, vowing to put the time in to be more involved and share in the crew’s lives, rather than choosing to be so withdrawn all the time.

                In the ready room, Jack sat in his usual seat. Pri sat beside him, with Cardox and Sita in the center row at the back of the room. Lucinia was seated at her desk while Proculus was at the front of the room, briefly setting up his program on the wardroom viewscreen. Everyone but Proculus was astonished and encouraging of Pri's new look. Proculus didn't spite it, he just really didn't care either way.

                "Alright," Proculus went to his first page. "Junkers Refuge requires the standard inox list for star farers. That’s Kaxapox, Rontenyl B, C and X, Extrapian flu and Mazar status. No-one on board is a Mazar carrier, so access should be no problem, and no-one would be on board without all these inoculations, so entry is a go." Proculus went to his next page, "Small arms are permitted. Pistols and small caliber sub guns only, no rifles, energy weapons, destructive devices or any weapon firing a projectile faster than eighteen hundred feet per second or in excess of five hundred and forty joules of energy. Our weapons kit will be permitted to KN-12 pistols and KN-19 sub guns as they meet the requirements."

                "What about pattern guns, First Officer?" Sita asked.

                "No go," Proculus replied. "Too indiscriminate with wide field of effect and our stock is over the velocity limits."

                "Could choke them up and equip a velocity reducer," Sita countered.

                "Station side security will confiscate them under the belief they will be tampered with later," He saw Sita nod in acceptance and moved on. "Standard team composition applies. Cardox as team lead, Pri as second in command and medical, Jack as comms and Sita as extra security, as a demo position is not needed."

                "Ah nuts," Sita frowned. "No fun this round."

                "We're going to buy munitions Sita. . ." Jack gave her a grin ". . .not void the entire station."

                Pri gave Jack a bit of a nudge as he laughed. "Voiding entire station may yet offer favorable result. Missile payment would be rendered un-necessary."

                "And place a bounty on us from every fortune seeker in a thousand light years." Jack remarked. "Starting with the renegade Sezar that lead the 'mercs' to commit such a despicable act."

                "Renegade Sezar would run a hard merc crew with strict discipline standards. More than what ‘stink-stick’ sucking Coralane could step up to."

                "See," Sita exclaimed. "She might be quiet but she's a dom."

                "What?" Pri turned around grinning. "Clarify remark?"

                "A dom, you know, a dominant." Cardox said quietly, pretending to act uncharacteristically shy as he spoke, despite everyone in the room being able to hear clearly.

                Pri turned around and looked at the captain, flush in the cheeks.

                "Why are you all, Pri excluded, so obsessed with Terran private parts and related actions?" Lucinia asked intently.

                "Uh, dunno Cap." Sita said.

                "Me no talk," Jack shrugged. "Me no know."

                "No-one does," Cardox replied. "It might be a military thing. I mean, right from basic, there were dicks drawn everywhere. I think most new recruits get accustomed to dicky as their last line of refuge while the sharks circled to tear bunks and kit boxes and your very soul apart. Dicky is everywhere. He was under bunks, in books, bathroom stalls, portashitters, on transport seats. Dicky was never more than a few paces away at any time, offering some sort of support I guess."

                "Why is dicky male?" Sita asked, barely containing her laughter.

                "Dicky is literally a dick." Cardox replied.

                "Moving on from the septic humor," Proculus cut in sharply. "Cardox, go over your requirements with your team before deployment and register any equipment drawn from the armory. Do a solid check to make sure it's all in proper order."

                "We good for kinetic armor, First Officer?" Cardox asked. "Any rules on armor or other combat devices?"

                "Kinetic vests are permitted but no combat armor or electronic gear. No other warfare devices are permitted. That means no smoke canisters, CS or flash, no drones either."

                "Damn," Cardox frowned. "Would've been nice to have Nyka's drones watching over us."

                "We are going to purchase munitions," Proculus reminded them, "not invade the place. Keep your cool and make sure it does not go south."

                Cardox nodded as Proculus motioned for Jack to come up. "Officer Coralane, the floor is yours."

                Jack went to the head of the room and looked them all over.

                "Now, I assume you all ain't gone lazy and slack since I left." He joked.

                "Tubs McSecond Officer is one to talk." Sita burst out.

                "What, this?" Jack patted the extra fifteen pounds on his belly. "It's water weight."

                "Water weight?" Pri asked.

                "More like 'What'd I order' weight." Cardox replied.

                "I do not get it." Proculus frowned.

                "Say it fast." Lucinia said.

                "What'd-I-Order, some play on water? Huh?" Proculus raised part of his lip in annoyance.

                "Eatin so much fast food he dunno what he ordered. . ." Sita clarified.

                Pri was twisting a digital pencil between both hands, then paused. "Terran humor bears no shortage of strangeness."

                "You mockin our humor?" Sita said in a silly voice and cracked her knuckles as Pri looked over with a smile.

                "Yeah," Cardox spoke in a similar manner. "You better say sorry, or we'll beat you up."

                "You pickin on my girl?" Jack copied their accents. "I fight you for that."

                "Come fight me right now," Cardox said.

                "I will but after my briefing," Jack started laughing as Cardox grinned and Proculus frowned and muttered under his breath. "Alright, back to task." Jack brought up a schematic of the station located near their requested docking station. "So, Canton's Supply is our target," He motioned to a box shaped building located three hundred meters from the dock. "Dock seven is our scheduled berth given by the arms dealer I spoke to." He tapped the closest dock to a large avenue that went up to the shop. "This thoroughfare is likely the safest access to the shop, though, as you can see, there are a lot of corridors along the way. I recommend that if we get separated somehow, we rally on the dock, or we can use this plaza if we end up core ward of the shop."

                "Agreed," Cardox nodded. "The corridors might harbor the wrong kind of folk. Stay in the open and your recommendations are true Jack, those shall be our rally points if the need arises. Make sure you know where your cover is at any time we are on the move."

                Cardox, Sita and Pri all uploaded the image to their personal datapads and Jack tagged both locations with a blip.

                "Alright, Cantons 'suggests' they have a stock of starfires but you'll need to negotiate, Captain." Jack looked at Lucinia a bit uncomfortably. "The rep I spoke with, presumably Canton himself, seemed to suggest that the missiles were worth one twenty, but open to negotiation."

                "I have to keep my wings somehow," Lucinia remarked. "We need to keep them from knowing how intent we are on buying these missiles. If they find out, the price will 'suddenly' escalate to the point the mission becomes a net loss."

                "We shall keep the small talk to a nil," Cardox spoke up. "This team doesn't roll with loose tongues, no need to start now."

                "Do you have anything else to add, Second Officer?" Lucinia asked, looking at Jack.

                "No Captain, that's all for me."

                "Alright, you can take your seat." Jack gave her a nod and sat back down.

                "This plan is not without its risks," Lucinia stated. "Everyone be on your guard. I want us all safe and home when this is done. Cardox the floor is yours."

                Cardox took the head of the room.

                "We have our destination; the plan is straight forward. Security team, keep the captain safe until the sale is complete. We are moving without overwatch so staying frosty from our position is absolute. Check fire, nobody engages unless we are fired upon. The place will be full of civvies, many of those will belong to gangs. A civvy with a gun is a potential threat so keep alert if any are spotted. This will be a hostile environment, but we must not seek to make it hostile to us. Watch each other's backs, scan your sectors, keep a clear field of fire. Be ready for anything. Any closing remarks?"

                "Maybe we can pacify them with booze?" Sita joked.

                "Too fuckin expensive," Cardox replied. "Most rockies can soak it up like a sponge."

                "Make example of weakest?" Pri joked next.

                "Ha ha. I like the way you think, but that might be a challenge to pick the right one," Cardox grinned. "Many fucknuts in these environments pay well for protection."

                Proculus was going to stop the conversation, but he caught sight of the captain’s stare, and she shook her head to stop him.

                "Pri's gotta pick the weak one," Jack elected.

                "Jack buys alcohol then?" Pri shot back.

                "Yeah," Sita concurred. "Jack boy foots the bill."

                "Sure, I'll rack up the bill, then bail. Hope you're all fast runners," Jack grinned. "You'll have to trip Pri."

                "Welcome to try," She bumped his side with her elbow. “Sezars can jump.”

                "It's you they'd be after two officer tub-so-flabo," Sita said to Jack.

                "Fucken. . .Cap?" Jack looked at her with a bit of a pouty face. “I'm getting bullied.”

                "The tables turn." Lucinia replied.

                "Alright, rally in the armory in thirty minutes," Cardox said. "We need to be kitted up and ready to move as soon as we dock. We have a close schedule to keep."

                "We still gotta fight, Cardie and Seets." Jack spoke in the silly voice again.

                "Three thirty by the monkey bars." Cardox replied as they stood up.

                "I be there, I fight you." Sita said.

                "You pick on bae, I get you, get you both." Pri did her best to copy their humor as they left the ready room.

                Proculus looked at Lucinia for a moment, seemingly wanting to remark on their antics. Her stifled laugh and grin made him pause, give her a disappointed look, then leave the room without a word.

Description

The Sumpter from the Rockpig came into land in the docking bay and the ramp lowered, allowing Kazlaena and Pri to exit. As they headed down the hall on D deck, laughing and giggling, Jack came out of the amenities room at the end.

                "Sa mallow, sa mallow," Kazlaena came racing up to him. " 'ow come you are all soaked?"

                "The wash basin is screwed up, blasted me in the face from beneath the faucet. . ." Jack looked a little disappointed for a sec, then gave her an inquisitive stare. "Did you mess with it?"

                "Um, nooo." Kazlaena pleaded innocence.

                "I think you did." Jack reached in and grabbed her, feeling her squirm in his grasp.

                "Not me, not me." Kazlaena tried to wriggle free, before using her nose to poke at his ear.

                "Unhand Sheriff." Pri said as she walked up and tried to free Kazlaena.

                "Sheriff? Uh, Pri?" Jack looked at her curiously.

                "Yes?" She asked.

                "You uh, your. . .eyes. . ."

                Pri had forgotten about the cosmetics on her eyes and a blast of embarrassment radiated through her.

                Oh no... She realized she had walked past so many of the Rockpig's crew, getting peculiar, even curious looks, but nothing that had made her feel uncomfortable.

                "Isn't Pri so pretty like sat?" Kazlaena said as Jack set her down slowly, still staring at Pri as she hid her face.

                "Uh, yeah, like wow. . ." Jack spoke slowly, then reached up to pull her hands down so he could see her eyes again. "Good to see you trying new things." He said softly.

                "New look does harbor interest. Perhaps future plans will include more new things." Pri said back and Jack felt some enthusiasm in her voice.

                He gave her a wink, then tickled at her belly as Kazlaena grasped one of his arms and tried to hold him back. Pri took hold of the other arm, then used her free hand too rub her knuckle over his head.

                “Grrrrrrr. Ape man go rage mode. Hur-a-hur-a-hur.” Jack growled as he partly broke free, somewhat due to Kazlaenas laughter making her loose her grip.

    He managed to get hold of Pri's tail with the Vandean clinging to his torso. Pri let him go, mouth slightly agape, hoping he would release his grasp on her tail. Jack took her tail and brushed her chin with her own tail feathers a few times, mimicking painting a bit. He then handed Pri her own tail and picked the Vandean up, tickling her silly. Pri looked at her tail for a moment, then let it go so she could hide her face and her laughter at the ridiculousness of the situation.

                "So, did you two have fun or what?" Jack asked with interest.

                "We did, we did," Kazlaena said, taking his hand as they headed up the hall.

                "Time was well spent." Pri leaned against him momentarily, letting out a bit of a purr before they hit Kazlaena's quarters and Kazlaena darted in.

                "Um, 'ey, Valeria 'as sa gift for you."

                "Oh?" Jack saw her open her pack and hand him a bag.

                Jack took it and saw a plastic bag of walnuts inside, letting out a bit of a sigh. He saw a card that read 'Keep crushing nuts boyo'.

                "Um?" Kazlaena looked at him.

                "My fav. . ." Jack replied half-heartedly.

                "Ok." Kazlaena shrugged, not really understanding.

                "Well, I'm glad you two had fun," Jack bumped fists with Kazlaena and patted Pri's stomach. "You really did, yeah?" He asked Pri quietly.

                "I did." Pri smiled, resting a hand over her pocket containing her commpad.

                "I hope you continue to try new things Pri." Jack said. "I like to see you smile; we all do. You might not think it, but you have a beautiful look to you when you’re happy and smiling." He gave her shoulder a pat. “I’ll catch up with you before the meeting.” Pri nodded and he and headed out.

                When they had split back to their own quarters, Pri opened her commpad and looked at the photos Valeria had captured of her. All of them were of her enjoying activities and smiling, something she would likely have avoided otherwise. She stopped at the last one, seeing herself with bright eyes and a beaming smile, recoiling in surprise over a simple board game they had been playing. She glanced at the text that had accompanied the photos.

                "Anytime you think you won't have fun or enjoy something with others, just look at these photos sweetie. You were the brightest star in that room today."

                Pri took a breath and held the commpad to her chest, feeling a welcome stir in her core as she thought of both Jack and Valeria’s words. She smiled brightly and nodded to herself, vowing to put the time in to be more involved and share in the crew’s lives, rather than choosing to be so withdrawn all the time.

                In the ready room, Jack sat in his usual seat. Pri sat beside him, with Cardox and Sita in the center row at the back of the room. Lucinia was seated at her desk while Proculus was at the front of the room, briefly setting up his program on the wardroom viewscreen. Everyone but Proculus was astonished and encouraging of Pri's new look. Proculus didn't spite it, he just really didn't care either way.

                "Alright," Proculus went to his first page. "Junkers Refuge requires the standard inox list for star farers. That’s Kaxapox, Rontenyl B, C and X, Extrapian flu and Mazar status. No-one on board is a Mazar carrier, so access should be no problem, and no-one would be on board without all these inoculations, so entry is a go." Proculus went to his next page, "Small arms are permitted. Pistols and small caliber sub guns only, no rifles, energy weapons, destructive devices or any weapon firing a projectile faster than eighteen hundred feet per second or in excess of five hundred and forty joules of energy. Our weapons kit will be permitted to KN-12 pistols and KN-19 sub guns as they meet the requirements."

                "What about pattern guns, First Officer?" Sita asked.

                "No go," Proculus replied. "Too indiscriminate with wide field of effect and our stock is over the velocity limits."

                "Could choke them up and equip a velocity reducer," Sita countered.

                "Station side security will confiscate them under the belief they will be tampered with later," He saw Sita nod in acceptance and moved on. "Standard team composition applies. Cardox as team lead, Pri as second in command and medical, Jack as comms and Sita as extra security, as a demo position is not needed."

                "Ah nuts," Sita frowned. "No fun this round."

                "We're going to buy munitions Sita. . ." Jack gave her a grin ". . .not void the entire station."

                Pri gave Jack a bit of a nudge as he laughed. "Voiding entire station may yet offer favorable result. Missile payment would be rendered un-necessary."

                "And place a bounty on us from every fortune seeker in a thousand light years." Jack remarked. "Starting with the renegade Sezar that lead the 'mercs' to commit such a despicable act."

                "Renegade Sezar would run a hard merc crew with strict discipline standards. More than what ‘stink-stick’ sucking Coralane could step up to."

                "See," Sita exclaimed. "She might be quiet but she's a dom."

                "What?" Pri turned around grinning. "Clarify remark?"

                "A dom, you know, a dominant." Cardox said quietly, pretending to act uncharacteristically shy as he spoke, despite everyone in the room being able to hear clearly.

                Pri turned around and looked at the captain, flush in the cheeks.

                "Why are you all, Pri excluded, so obsessed with Terran private parts and related actions?" Lucinia asked intently.

                "Uh, dunno Cap." Sita said.

                "Me no talk," Jack shrugged. "Me no know."

                "No-one does," Cardox replied. "It might be a military thing. I mean, right from basic, there were dicks drawn everywhere. I think most new recruits get accustomed to dicky as their last line of refuge while the sharks circled to tear bunks and kit boxes and your very soul apart. Dicky is everywhere. He was under bunks, in books, bathroom stalls, portashitters, on transport seats. Dicky was never more than a few paces away at any time, offering some sort of support I guess."

                "Why is dicky male?" Sita asked, barely containing her laughter.

                "Dicky is literally a dick." Cardox replied.

                "Moving on from the septic humor," Proculus cut in sharply. "Cardox, go over your requirements with your team before deployment and register any equipment drawn from the armory. Do a solid check to make sure it's all in proper order."

                "We good for kinetic armor, First Officer?" Cardox asked. "Any rules on armor or other combat devices?"

                "Kinetic vests are permitted but no combat armor or electronic gear. No other warfare devices are permitted. That means no smoke canisters, CS or flash, no drones either."

                "Damn," Cardox frowned. "Would've been nice to have Nyka's drones watching over us."

                "We are going to purchase munitions," Proculus reminded them, "not invade the place. Keep your cool and make sure it does not go south."

                Cardox nodded as Proculus motioned for Jack to come up. "Officer Coralane, the floor is yours."

                Jack went to the head of the room and looked them all over.

                "Now, I assume you all ain't gone lazy and slack since I left." He joked.

                "Tubs McSecond Officer is one to talk." Sita burst out.

                "What, this?" Jack patted the extra fifteen pounds on his belly. "It's water weight."

                "Water weight?" Pri asked.

                "More like 'What'd I order' weight." Cardox replied.

                "I do not get it." Proculus frowned.

                "Say it fast." Lucinia said.

                "What'd-I-Order, some play on water? Huh?" Proculus raised part of his lip in annoyance.

                "Eatin so much fast food he dunno what he ordered. . ." Sita clarified.

                Pri was twisting a digital pencil between both hands, then paused. "Terran humor bears no shortage of strangeness."

                "You mockin our humor?" Sita said in a silly voice and cracked her knuckles as Pri looked over with a smile.

                "Yeah," Cardox spoke in a similar manner. "You better say sorry, or we'll beat you up."

                "You pickin on my girl?" Jack copied their accents. "I fight you for that."

                "Come fight me right now," Cardox said.

                "I will but after my briefing," Jack started laughing as Cardox grinned and Proculus frowned and muttered under his breath. "Alright, back to task." Jack brought up a schematic of the station located near their requested docking station. "So, Canton's Supply is our target," He motioned to a box shaped building located three hundred meters from the dock. "Dock seven is our scheduled berth given by the arms dealer I spoke to." He tapped the closest dock to a large avenue that went up to the shop. "This thoroughfare is likely the safest access to the shop, though, as you can see, there are a lot of corridors along the way. I recommend that if we get separated somehow, we rally on the dock, or we can use this plaza if we end up core ward of the shop."

                "Agreed," Cardox nodded. "The corridors might harbor the wrong kind of folk. Stay in the open and your recommendations are true Jack, those shall be our rally points if the need arises. Make sure you know where your cover is at any time we are on the move."

                Cardox, Sita and Pri all uploaded the image to their personal datapads and Jack tagged both locations with a blip.

                "Alright, Cantons 'suggests' they have a stock of starfires but you'll need to negotiate, Captain." Jack looked at Lucinia a bit uncomfortably. "The rep I spoke with, presumably Canton himself, seemed to suggest that the missiles were worth one twenty, but open to negotiation."

                "I have to keep my wings somehow," Lucinia remarked. "We need to keep them from knowing how intent we are on buying these missiles. If they find out, the price will 'suddenly' escalate to the point the mission becomes a net loss."

                "We shall keep the small talk to a nil," Cardox spoke up. "This team doesn't roll with loose tongues, no need to start now."

                "Do you have anything else to add, Second Officer?" Lucinia asked, looking at Jack.

                "No Captain, that's all for me."

                "Alright, you can take your seat." Jack gave her a nod and sat back down.

                "This plan is not without its risks," Lucinia stated. "Everyone be on your guard. I want us all safe and home when this is done. Cardox the floor is yours."

                Cardox took the head of the room.

                "We have our destination; the plan is straight forward. Security team, keep the captain safe until the sale is complete. We are moving without overwatch so staying frosty from our position is absolute. Check fire, nobody engages unless we are fired upon. The place will be full of civvies, many of those will belong to gangs. A civvy with a gun is a potential threat so keep alert if any are spotted. This will be a hostile environment, but we must not seek to make it hostile to us. Watch each other's backs, scan your sectors, keep a clear field of fire. Be ready for anything. Any closing remarks?"

                "Maybe we can pacify them with booze?" Sita joked.

                "Too fuckin expensive," Cardox replied. "Most rockies can soak it up like a sponge."

                "Make example of weakest?" Pri joked next.

                "Ha ha. I like the way you think, but that might be a challenge to pick the right one," Cardox grinned. "Many fucknuts in these environments pay well for protection."

                Proculus was going to stop the conversation, but he caught sight of the captain’s stare, and she shook her head to stop him.

                "Pri's gotta pick the weak one," Jack elected.

                "Jack buys alcohol then?" Pri shot back.

                "Yeah," Sita concurred. "Jack boy foots the bill."

                "Sure, I'll rack up the bill, then bail. Hope you're all fast runners," Jack grinned. "You'll have to trip Pri."

                "Welcome to try," She bumped his side with her elbow. “Sezars can jump.”

                "It's you they'd be after two officer tub-so-flabo," Sita said to Jack.

                "Fucken. . .Cap?" Jack looked at her with a bit of a pouty face. “I'm getting bullied.”

                "The tables turn." Lucinia replied.

                "Alright, rally in the armory in thirty minutes," Cardox said. "We need to be kitted up and ready to move as soon as we dock. We have a close schedule to keep."

                "We still gotta fight, Cardie and Seets." Jack spoke in the silly voice again.

                "Three thirty by the monkey bars." Cardox replied as they stood up.

                "I be there, I fight you." Sita said.

                "You pick on bae, I get you, get you both." Pri did her best to copy their humor as they left the ready room.

                Proculus looked at Lucinia for a moment, seemingly wanting to remark on their antics. Her stifled laugh and grin made him pause, give her a disappointed look, then leave the room without a word.