Serena sighed when she saw the Borealis. If anything stuck out like a sore thumb on Illium, it did.  It was a ruined, rusty, ancient and seemed more like a death trap than an actual ship. All around her were strangers, excluding Vellios, with crates and bags of what she could only assume contained their personal items (and, as was a certainty, their weapons). She herself had a travelling case with all of her tools and her various personal items in it and a crate with all of her building materials for more mechs and repairs. The crate was being carried by her latest prototype, a floating mech (or was it a drone with arms? She'd work on the name later)  named Sal, while she carried the tools and personal items. She could practically feel Vellios' eyes burrowing into her as they walked towards the rusted freighter. 

She looked over, seeing the 'I told you so' look on his face. Serena could only shrug sheepishly at Vellios. [color=Hotpink]"I never said it was going to be a good job."[/color] She muttered, slightly defensively. [color=Hotpink]"It'll at least be interesting, huh? Right? That's a bright side?"[/color] She stared skeptically at the Borealis again or, Jalopy depending on who you are. [color=Hotpink]"Okay. We might die horribly upon boarding."[/color] She smiled nervously, wondering how they were going to take on the contracts they had if they even got out of the docks.

Vellios chuckled a bit, amused. [color=Rosybrown]"I wouldn't say that, but you are right. It won't be boring..."[/color]

Serena rolled her eyes, before having Sal drop the crate and fly over to her. He still needed some work. [color=Hotpink]"If I could just get this wiring right he should be perfect..."[/color] She muttered, largely to herself. Her omni-tool turned into the necessary tool she needed and she began to work, passing the time while they waited for the captain of this doomed venture to show up.

[color=Rosybrown]"I can't really help you there, sweetie. You know me and wiring tend to only get along when I'm strangling someone."[/color] Vellios smirked as if he had made a joke, despite its morbid nature 

[color=Hotpink]"Oh hardy har har. You should be a comedian Vellios, it suits you so much better than following me around and making sure I don't accidentally shoot myself in the foot or something. Or a chef! I can see you being a chef. You like knives so much, after all. Chop up some fruit for your salsa, or something."[/color] She was referring to his current, and nigh constant, playing with his knife. 

It was when she was almost done with Sal's wiring that she noticed the security officer approaching them, and she felt an uncomfortable feeling race through her. [color=Hotpink]"This...isn't going to end well."[/color] She spoke aloud. As she predicted, it wasn't good. The captain was dead, they all had control of the rustbucket, and they had an hour to leave before the Illium security force made them leave. [color=Hotpink]"[i]Fuck.[/i]."[/color] Serena declared with considerable feeling, closing up Sal's body and picking up her suitcase. Sal, drone with arms (floating mech? She really needed to start naming her creations before actually creating them), picked up the crate once more and they all began loading up on the hangar bay, after the door ungraciously decided to open and let them in. 

It was even worse on the inside. [color=Hotpink][i]At least[/i],[/color] Serena thought, [color=Hotpink][i]The cargo equipment looks marginally up-to-date. Not that it'll matter since we're going to blow up upon lifting off because the engines have rusted into dust.[/i][/color] She set up in an unoccupied corner, evidently the other human (the one who had named the Borealis the Jalopy) had the same idea. Her small belongings and crate sat down, she began to unload her tools and arrange them in her particular pattern, with the help of Sal. This way, she would know where to find her tools and instantly know if anyone took them without her permission. She set up her sleeping bag a little bit away from the work bench, so she could avoid sleeping in wiring and shrapnel. The final touch was to place up her blueprint plans for Barat there, ready to be worked on for the duration of her time here. Looking around, she thought things were as bad as they could get. 

She was wrong. So very wrong.

Almost as soon as she and Sal had finished organizing their area, the other woman began yelling at her drone (evidently named Shithead. Serena couldn't help a giggle at that.) Then the drone began blasting terrible alien music. Serena winced, attempting to block out the sound by covering her ears. That failed, especially when the Elcor began singing. [color=Hotpink]"This...is gonna be a long job."[/color] Serena was speaking too Sal, but she somehow doubted that he could have heard her. [color=Hotpink][i]Enough. I've had Alliance training. Surely I have enough discipline to deal with this.[/i] "Sarah, Del, start running a sweep of the area and see if there's anything worth noting like holes in the ship. Sal, come here I still need to finish your wiring."[/color] Her other two, much more finished and stable, drones rose up and came to life, acting upon her command. 

She tried. She really did. She hunched her shoulders and tried to focus on working on Sal, even when the music merely got louder. After a few more minutes of hearing Elcor scream, however, she broke. Serena stood up, closing Sal's body once more, and headed over too the woman. She could have just tried to hack into the drone, but that would have been rude. She didn't even bother trying to be heard over the deafening, painful, music. She simply walked over to where the woman was under the vehicle and nudged her exposed foot.  [color=Hotpink]"Excuse me!"[/color] She called, before she could get a response, she just barely heard an alarming grinding noise.

It took her a moment to realize that the sound wasn't coming from the vehicle the woman was working on. Whirling around she saw that Sal was smoking and shaking. [color=Hotpink]"Shit! Stay down!"[/color] She shouted, perhaps unnecessarily, swinging up her omni-shield and throwing a barrier around the prototype. 

[i]BOOM![/i]

Her latest droid exploded in a fantastic shower of sparks and shrapnel, contained by the barrier Serena had around him. Cautiously, she poked her head over the Omni-shield. [color=Hotpink]"Well. There goes another one."[/color]