[h2]Kat Staten[/h2]

[i]Ohhhh, she has coffee...[/i]

The comment got Kat's attention, but she didn't have time to say anything before the ship's captain made his presence known. She hauled herself to her feet, ass was required, but she didn't bother looking especially formal; at this distance even [i]she[/i] wouldn't be visible. For the most part she listened silently to the usual spiel, but the moment he referred to a 'united mankind' she scoffed. Quietly, but she did. It had been four years since they finally stopped skirmishing with anti-union forces? Ten since the whole goddamn planet stopped fighting?

She hadn't been there for it, but she knew the old men had been. And she'd been there to fight the AUL. And they were on their way out to fight insurrectionists, maybe pirates. Some unity. Her face stayed neutral, but she didn't bother to hide the roll of her eyes. 

The klaxon, though, got a reaction.

Kat slipped her arms through the sleeves of her flight suit before the announcement was even done, zipping it up and nodding McKnight's way. The American started towards her Valk without missing a beat, giving Cairo an encouraging slap on the back as she passed, but otherwise staying silent. Now that she had an outlet all that energy was going [i]towards[/i] something, not welling up in need of a way out. Her walk became a jog with a few steps, ducking and weaving in and around pilots and technicians alike rushing around the hangar. The tingling between her shoulderblades spread like wildfire, every muscle felt electrified; this was no drill. She'd been excited, for sure, but this was different.

Someone was making a move on their home turf. No idea who, not yet, but someone was making a statement.

She'd make one right back.

"What've we got, Sanders?" She barked, grabbing her helmet off a table as she approached her Valk. The crew chief in charge of its maintenance barely spared her a glance at first, barking instructions of his own, but he turned and nodded as she got close. "How's she doin'?"

"She'll fly fine, ma'am. Fuel's topped off, munitions loaded, FAST pack's mounted."

"What about the control deviance from yesterday?" Kat jammed the helmet on over her hair, fastening it securely and finishing the last few fasteners on her suit. A jerk of her head towards the craft illustrated her point. "Got that fixed?"

"Aye, boss."

"Good, if it gets me killed I'm haunting your ass." The quip sailed over her shoulder on her way up to the cockpit, but it wasn't quite the usual bluster. There was something feral about the way she moved, now that a fight was brewing. A readiness and an eagernesss to throw down with whoever was crashing the party. To feed that adrenaline already pumping through her veins. Pre-flight checks were automatic, rattled off without much attention as she secured the oxygen mask to her face. Diagnostics rang up green on her visor, matching the readouts in her cockpit. 

It'd be her first [i]real[/i] fight in a Veritech, but she'd gotten pretty used to them. No Falcon, maybe, but her job was the same; outmaneuver, outperform, and outhink the enemy. Control the airspace. She just had some new tricks, and a really, really big cannon to introduce them to. 

A satisfied noise reverberated deep in her chest when all checks came back normal, just barely preceding her checkin.

"Centerfold, all systems ready."