Lakavia is a city situated on the banks of the Lakavia river. Well-known for its large lake and even larger aerodrome, the city-state is one of the more cosmopolitan regions of the Confederation of Rivaravia. Compared to other city-states, Lakavia was one of the largest, having a population of over 1.6 million people. The most well-known feature of the city is its large aerodrome situated on the outskirts of the city near the coast. The Lakavia Aerodrome is the largest in Rivaravia, housing several dozen airships. Alongside its large aerodrome, Lakavia became the center of airship production and maintenance in Rivaravia. For anyone wanting to hire the best airship captains or otherwise purchase their own, Lakavia was the place to go.

“I swear, if these valves don’t fit I’m going to strangle that mechanic,” a deep voice grumbled from within the chaotic nest of brass pipes.

“Hal, If they don’t fit, I might just level his shop,” Jac replied, doing his best to angle the lantern so his engineer could see what he was doing. It was rare that the Libertas’ boilers were cool enough to work on and being at dock was one of those times. Unfortunately, parts for the Amperan frigate were hard to come by this far west, the other side of the world from the shipyards that built her. It didn’t help that there was no standard for airship construction.

“I think I got it,” the engineer rumbled, his prosthetic arm hissing as he released his grip, “blow a test tank Capn, make sure it holds.”

“Got it,” Jac nodded, placing the lantern on the ground and walking over to a connection point where a young woman was already connecting a tank of pressurized gas.

“Thanks Anna,” he nodded and motioned for her to continue. She pulled a release lever and the tank hissed as gas poured into the pipe system. Pipes rumbled as they were suddenly pressurized, the entire engine shaking as though angry its rest was disturbed. A few moments later a release valve near the top of the stack blew with a high pitched whistle.

“Looks good here Cap’n,” Hal called from where he lay within the pipe works.

“Need any more help?” Jac called back.

“We’re good, should have the engine back together in an hour if you need it.”
“Alright, don’t take too much time rubbing your pipe,” the captain replied, earning a snort from within the engine. After using a rag to try and clean the oil from his hands, and likely only spreading it around more, Jac climbed the steep staircase from the engine room to the main hall of the AC-244 frigate he called home. Some of the crew was on leave still, but most had returned, exhausting their pay and eager for the next job. Metal clanked under his feet as he made his way down the hallway, pushing open the door to the small bridge.

The mooring tower dominated the view out the front of the large windows, obscured slightly by the bow sprites and fore turret. Beyond that muddy grass and other ships stretched as far as the eye could see.

“Beatrix!” Jac called over his shoulder as he pulled a small book from a shelf near the control wheel, “damnit, Beatrix! Did you find us work?”

Beatrix's quarters on Jac's frigate might not be the most luxurious and they definitely were much more... [i]compact[/i] than the one she had in her home, but still they were indeed quite cozy. Despite his snarky personality, he was still a good guy. Surprisingly, he had agreed to Beatrix's demands of having a good place for her to stay and thus she ended up with one of the best quarters of the frigate.

Since they had stopped to change some valves and fix something in the ship that Beatrix both didn't know what nor she cared, she was simply maintaining her equipment in her room. After cleaning her armor and checking her weapon and ammo, she was leisurely brushing her hair as she listened the echoes of Jac and the engineer's voices, threatening to strangle and leveling his shop if the valve didn't fit. Having fiercely refused to help with fixing the ship, under the pretense that 'if oil spills in her hair it would take her half a day to clean it', she was mostly left to do whatever she wanted by Jac... Or at least that was what she thought, having forgotten that she had asked something of her before she went inside.

[color=ed1c24]"Noisy, as usual."[/color] Beatrix said to herself, with a sigh and a hint of amusement in her voice. It was, in some ways, quite refreshing to be around people like Jac and the rest of his crew, as they were notably less... 'strict' than the people back at Legio Ater Ferris.
With a rumble that resonated through the ship, she could feel the vibrations of the engine shaking as it was turned on. A high pitched whistle indicated that whatever repair they were making was succesful, much to the mechanic's luck, which had both his neck and his shop saved. Coincidentally, she had finished maintaining her armor, which was on display on an armor stand on the corner of her room. Putting the hairbrush on top of her bed, she looked at her reflection on the mirror. Wearing a [url=https://i.postimg.cc/k4wWJ1fC/b0c7522f4d3c691349d01077fd4f9171.jpg]beautiful, black, gothic lolita style dress[/url]. Her hair, which was carefully braided in two pigtails gave her quite an adorable appearance.

Just as she got out to see how Jac was doing, she heard his angry voice calling her name. Calmly walking towards him, she found him with his hands completely dirty with oil, reading a small book near the control wheel.

[color=ed1c24]"I did hear you the first time, you know... There's no need to shout!"[/color] she said, rolling her eyes as she walked towards him.

[color=ed1c24]"Work? You mean... a contract?"[/color] Beatrix asked, raising an eyebrow as she stopped nearby Jac, confused. 

[color=ed1c24]"Was I supposed to?"[/color] Beatrix asked, waving her hair as she tilted her head. Her confusion was clearly not just her being bratty though, it was clear thanks to her expression and her voice that she honestly didn't remember him having asked her to do so.

Without looking up Jac pointed to a board on the back wall of the bridge which normally indicated who was on which shift. While at port he used it to delegate various jobs that needed to get done while docked. Next to Beatrix’s name Jac had written ‘find contract’ with the grease pen tied to the board. Most of the crew had similar short jobs listed.

“You didn’t check the shift board?” Jac asked, finishing marking down the repairs in the ship’s log. He closed the book, replaced the pen’s cap and returned both to their shelf.

“Well, lucky for you I’m free now,” he continued with a sigh, finally turning to face the young woman with a snarky grin on his face, “so I hope you got your shopping in, because it’s time to put your… preparations to the test.”

Nothing quite pulled interested parties like a good-looking woman which, though Jac would never admit, Beatrix was. That’s why he often gave her that job while they were between contracts. Between that and her combat skills she was a good member of the crew, though at times he had to remind himself of that.

Looking to the board that Jac pointed at, Beatrix indeed saw her name, together what what she was supposed to do written right next to it. It didn't help that she didn't have a habit of looking at the board herself.

[color=ed1c24]"Oh... It is indeed there."[/color] Beatrix said, shrugging.

She was surprised to notice though that Jac didn't give her a long sermon or scolding for having forgotten her task, nor did he said anything about her wearing a dress, going as far as to even offering to go with her in search of a job. In fact, he seemed to be strangely satisfied that she was wearing nice clothes.

[color=ed1c24]"I honestly thought you were about to scold me and give me a sermon."[/color] she said, with a chuckle.

[color=ed1c24]"Good looks do attract stares. Lucky for you though, I'm here."[/color] Beatrix said with a smug look on his face and a chuckle.

Truth be told, the initial reason for her to wear her dress instead of her armor wasn't to attract stares and help to find a contract like she claimed to Jac, but simply because it was undeniably more comfortable than her armor and she was still a girl. She enjoyed looking pretty when she wasn't working.

“If I did chew you out again, would it help?” Jac asked with a raised eyebrow. Wiping his hands once more on his pants before grabbing his jacket from where it lay next to the wheel, he made for the door leading from the bridge to the main deck. Normally the door was closed in flight, but they tended to leave it open while the ship was moored to let some air through.

“Better to use you as bait. Just hope we find a good job or I’ll have you helping Hal clean the oil system,” Jac chuckled, in a decent mood despite the lack of work currently. Normally he was rather solemn between jobs, seemed like every other day that the bank was sending him telegrams reminding him of the money he still owed on the [i]Libertas[/i], but with nearly everything on board working for the first time in recent memory he figured he could enjoy the relaxation before it all went downhill again.

Turns out the feeling didn’t last long, the moment he climbed down the ladder from the ship’s deck to the ground a messenger on a bike pulled up.

“Mr. Bashford?” The man asked.

“Depends on who sent the telegram,” Jac said with only a slight groan.

“Says ‘Federal Reserve of Amperta’ sir.”

“Then no, Mr. Bashford isn’t here right now. In fact, you may have the wrong ship as there is no Jac Bashford on this ship.”

[color=ed1c24]"I do like the nice Jac that doesn't scold me much more though..."[/color] Beatrix replied to Jac when he asked if it would help if he scolded her. Normally, Beatrix knew how solemn Jac was between jobs so it was a rather nice surprise to see him in such a good mood.

As she followed him outside the bridge, on the way to the main deck though, she heard quite a worrying sentence from Jac... If they didn't find a job even when using Beatrix as a bait, he would have her help Hal to clean the oil system. Something that Beatrix would definitely hate. Despite it being followed by a chuckle, Beatrix didn't doubt at all that he would really do it in case they didn't find a job.

[color=ed1c24]"What?! The Oil System? Do you know how much time it would take for me to clean the oil stains from my dress and clean my hair? Almost an entire day!! I just finished brushing my hair too!"[/color] Beatrix said, clearly unsatisfied.

[color=ed1c24]"Ugh... I hope we find a job..."[/color] she said with a heavy sigh as she followed him to the ladder in order to get out of the ship.

[color=ed1c24]"Don't you [i]dare[/i] to look up by the way..."[/color] she said as she got down the stairs, holding her dress near her body with her free hand.

When they got down though, much to Beatrix's dismay, a messenger on a bike pulled up asking for Mr. Bashford. While it seemed to be something quite trivial, she would learn by the short exchange of words between both man that it would completely ruin Jac's good mood for the day. While she knew Jac's general background, lots of things were still a secret for her. What the Federal Reserve of Amperta could possibly want with Jac was one of them.

[color=ed1c24]"The Federal Reserve?"[/color] Beatrix repeated in a low tone.

[color=ed1c24]"I can hand him the telegram if you don't mind. "[/color] she said, walking towards the messenger.  The tone of her voice and how she walked made it clear that she wouldn't take no for an answer.

The messenger glanced between Jac and Beatrix for a moment before shrugging and handing over the letter before hopping back on his steamcycle and peeling away, already pulling another letter from his bag.

“Fine,” Jac snatched the letter from Beatrix before she could open it, shoving it into a jacket pocket, continuing in a grumble, “so much for being able to claim we didn’t get it. You better put that full day of brushing to use then and find us a good job.”

“Well Ma’dam,” Jac said sweeping out an arm with a mock bow for added effect to allow Beatrix to go first, “do try to avoid flirting with the creeps.”

[hider=Credits]
Colab post
Arc as Jac
Borg as Beatrix
Crow as GM
[/hider]