Nairobi ran and slid across the cold steel floor, rushing to hide behind a cargo crate. Her companions followed suit as closely as they could. 

“I’m too clunky!” Jax exclaimed, trying to crouch as low as possible in her mecha half-suit, “We have to move!!”

Bullets continued to fire from multiple directions, some straying just far enough to clink against the metal. Nairobi positioned herself in between two crates, peering through the scope of her gun. Armed guards were positioned everywhere, either shooting somewhat blindly or awaiting further instruction. Probability of survival and doubt started to overwhelm the young engineer; she’d been in high stakes situations before, but this was almost too much. She moved her sights quickly from left to right and back again, checking for snipers hidden above the majority of the guards. 

A hand rested heavily on Nairobi’s shoulder, startling her. She turned to see Tylos, pointing toward something.

“Up there. Is that who you’re looking for?”

Peering through the scope again, Nairobi could see the figures from before though much closer this time. Her fur bristled again, simultaneous relief and anticipation flooded her as she looked them over.

“What? What is it?!” Jax was impatient, she had never been one to hide and plan. Her usual instinct was to dive in head first.

“There’s three of them,” Nairobi began “One female, two males,” She swallowed, adjusting the electronic scope for a closer look. “They are all armed. One looks hurt! …And one…has a collar?”

“A priest?” Tylos had watched the engineer adjust her scope and did the same with his so he could have a look as well. “Fuck, who are these people? Do you know them?”

Nairobi ignored him, thinking quickly. “Jax, I need you to run a distraction. Ty, you’ll come with me and hold the entrance of the ship. We need to get to the ship first, and we need to provide cover for them. We have approximately 3 minutes to complete. Are you ready?” 

Jax nodded, Tylos saluted the engineer with a mocking grin. 

“On my signal……” Nairobi let out a loud bark and the three rushed into action. Nairobi had run and slid under the belly of the space craft, while Tylos ducked around the side. Jax lept and sprang straight up, 15ft into the air. Bullets fired at her ricocheted off as she crossed her huge metal hands in front of her to block them. A blast of fire shot from the bottom of the mecha’s shoes as she hovered in the air. The plan was to distract the guards long enough for Nairobi to start the engine. Hopefully, the other crew were friends and not foes. Nairobi wasn't sure she could fight off the federation [i]and[/i] a crew of bandits.

Forming a gun with her left index finger and thumb, Jax winked playfully before shooting at a group of guards. A smoke bomb released from the robotic appendage and crashed to the ground near them, covering the second level of the hangar in a heavy cloud.

"This thing is so AWESOME!" Jax squealed, pumping her fist. "Hell yeah!!"

She scanned the hangar below, diving and circling around to look for the other crew through the heavy clouds of smoke. Jax knew if she got to them before Nairobi they might have a better chance of teaming up. Nairobi could be a little...stubborn. Hesitant of making new friends. Living the life of an orphan had taught Jax how to judge someone's character quickly and accurately. She knew if she could find them they'd get out of this smoothly.

A shot rang out, Jax could hear the loud thud of a drone crashing to the ground. There they were!

Nairobi had quickly unlocked a panel under the ship, revealing a hi-tech palm scanner and keypad. The palm scanner didn't just scan for fingerprints, those were too easy to replicate. With the help of the Federation research team, Nairobi created a scanner that was picking up DNA rather than scanning for prints. This made weapons, ships, and other sensitive Federation equipment almost impossible to steal. Of course they had put one of these locks on Nai and Jax' cell, and of course Nairobi had overridden the board inside. The young engineer had been biding her time for so long, nothing got past her.

With the press of two more buttons, the door panel began to slide open with a low metallic rumble. Tylos crouched below and to the right of the door, blasting two guards who dared run forward. A spray of bullets followed, forcing Tylos a little farther under the belly of the ship. 

"We have to go!" He called "Quickly!!"