[hr][hr][center][h1][b][i][color=008080]William Harper[/color][/i][/b][/h1][img]http://images6.fanpop.com/image/polls/1473000/1473595_1430407209248_full.jpg?v=1430408080[/img][hr][b][color=teal]Location:[/color][/b] Retribution, Bridge [hr][/center]

	That wait for something terrible to happen had come to a swift end, in a manner most horrifying and predictable. Harper's hands danced across the ship's control panels, issuing unspoken commands to the onboard systems to specify and clarify the nature of the alarm filling his senses. PROXIMITY ALERT blared across his screens, it being the priority alert he wished to scan. If the local Powers-That-Be wanted to come in force, he would make damned sure that the [i]I.A.V. Retribution[/i] was ready to fight or fly. Of course, the second obvious difficulty (and the one that was steadily convincing him to deposit a crabcake in his shorts from earlier) was the presence of Reavers. If that one ship was merely a scouting vessel, they had problems. 

	They had problems. Harper addressed the skeleton crew over the PA. To his credit, his voice only cracked once. [color=008080]"Atten... <ahem>. Attention, this is First Lieutenant William Harper. We have incoming hostiles. Prepare for takeoff [i]the second[/i] our crew is onboard."[/color] He peered at the fore visuals for a second. [color=008080]"They may be bringing guests, hostile status unknown. That is all."[/color] 

	Of course, the Captain, the Agent, the Doctor, and that foppish Barber were still outside and had absolutely zero idea what was about to rain down upon them all. In a relatively tense fashion, Harper flipped the PA to external audio and held the switch open, allowing the full noise of the alarm to be heard outside of the vessel. Harper's voice accompanied the electronic klaxon, giving it a greater sense of urgency with the dispassionate tone of his words. [color=008080]"We have multiple ships incoming, all with compromised reactor shielding. ETA is less than twenty minutes. Firing engines now, Captain."[/color] 

	Harper breezed through the pre-flight checklist, most of which were moot points considering that they had landed atop bare soil without another functional ship in sight in open airspace. Open for the moment, anyway. William aimed to be long gone by the time the air became cluttered. He engaged the engines, ran basic diagnostics, and prepared to fire the antigrav propulsion to lift them skyward, hopefully with a full crew. 

	Though if he were honest with himself, the concept of "full crew" was very fluid right then. 


[hr][hr][center][h1][b][i][color=f9ad81]Foy Coiffeur[/color][/i][/b][/h1][img]https://snippetstudios.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/a-million-ways-to-die-in-the-west-640x350.png [/img][hr][b][color=f9ad81]Location:[/color][/b] Whitefall, surface [hr][/center]

	[color=f9ad81]"My, oh my. Captain, Miss Lobo, and my esteemed Doctor Moreau, it appears that our junior pilot is feeling a little antsy.[/color] began Foy, still maintaining his rifle's position in the general direction of the crew from the Vengeance. [color=f9ad81]"It appears that we have been caught within the uncheery grasp of an extenuating circumstance, you see."[/color] 

	In his heart of hearts, Foy was rightly nervous about the possibility of being out in the open with an armada of Reaver ships on their way. But he and his had a fast, armed, and most importantly mobile ship not too horribly far back behind them from which to sip fine champagne and make flippant comments about the fate of those who did not. 

	[color=f9ad81]"Ladies, if you would be as kind as to excuse, I believe we have an egress to attend. I should wish you a positive and [i]amazing[/i] last few moments of inhaling and exhaling - which I advise you enjoy in the interim - else you petition the good Captain here for a spot in Cargo. Now, be there a person of business or standing among you, I would absolutely [i]adore[/i] the opportunity to parlay post-emergency. But for now, I have somewhere to be. Captain, Josie? What say you?"[/color]