Seraphina hissed through her teeth as she pushed the needle into Tarak's eye.

[color=8493ca]"Sorry, bro, I really messed up there. I was aiming for your forehead and now look what happened."[/color]

She sighed in annoyance with herself and pulled the needle out to inspect the damage.

[color=8493ca]"Hm. Good thing you're so porous or that would have left a mark. Guess subpar materials have their merits, namely being expendable. Still, I was spacing out hard just now. Mm, time for a break."[/color]

With a brief huff she set down the half sewn doll next to the others and put the wayward needle safely into a pin cushion. She doubted she would even be able to finish as soon as she planned, since the Tarak plushie would need materials she didn't have for the armor. She poked the little bear's nose before admonishing it for things far beyond any inanimate object's control.

[color=8493ca]"Why do you have to be all fancy and live in a shell? Why can't you just be soft like your brothers and sisters? Well, I guess little Nero's death mask is going to be a custom fabrication, too. And don't get me started on Abaddon!"[/color]

Flopping onto her side she looked over her collection so far. Most of the crew was now complete, at least in a rudimentary fashion. Some were unfinished like Tarak's bear and none had completed outfits yet. But she supposed it wasn't bad for a few scattered hours of work. The problem was that this hobby gave her too much time to think, and her head wasn't in the best of places lately. Not for a while actually.

Rolling off her futon Phi shut off the bedside light and closed the curtain that kept her secret away from any casual visitors. They would be arriving at Plenty soon which meant preparations had to be made and her head needed to be in the game. It didn't help that she hadn't managed more than a casual conversation in all three days of travel, not since speaking with Amy. Then there was the impromptu boarding action. While successful Phi herself could only fret helplessly while others put themselves at risk and Navi even came out badly hurt.

[color=8493ca]"What a terrifying mess that was. Goes to show how ready we are for a sudden crisis."[/color]

She thought about the conflicting ideas just before their captain settled on a bold and risky plan of attack. Phi herself agreed more with Laurey back then, to just cut and run. Granted she had followed orders without objection at the time. And in the end she could do nothing to help anyone, not Navi, not even Amy.

She sighed again as she finished her new look, taking on the image of another star marine long ago listed as KIA. It felt strange and uncomfortable, but it was the best idea she could come up with when Tarak brought up false identities. It was still a risk but a lie like this was easier to swallow, as well as maintain. Better than using their real identities by far. Even so she wondered at the fellow children they were impersonating. Had they ever actually met before? Were any of the ones listed as missing still alive? 

Slapping her cheeks Phi scolded herself for once again getting lost in thought. Soon would be the time for action. Uncertainty had no place in the battlefield. Her personal armory helped center her mind and settle her nerves. The familiar equipment all had its own place, its own function. Consistent, reliable, each weapon like an old friend. She took her time preparing a lightweight loadout including minimal armor, and focusing on a pistol and submachine gun combination. For close quarters against other humans this bare minimum should be enough. And yet she found herself hesitating, and then reaching for a special piece of heavy ordinance. Well, this grenade launcher was about as heavy a weapon she allowed in the case anyway. This she slung over her back before going to the bridge to wait.

It wasn't long, less than an hour, before they finally arrived at Plenty. While the others began to gather on the bridge Phi took the opportunity to collect whatever local information she could easily gather. Among this was the crashed ship itself, which soon dominated everyone's attention.

[color=8493ca]"Damn, that is a big one. Good thing, too, or else the Ascendancy would probably have our AI friend by now. I wonder how many organic prisoners survived?"[/color] She thought out loud before laughing at Avelyn's points. [color=8493ca]"Too true. Looking scary and bullying Ascendancy troops sounds fun for once."[/color]

She wanted to add more to the conversation but Tarak spoke up in his no nonsense tone so she shut up and listened for now, committing the teams and plan to memory. It was shaping up to be a good arrangement, like showing your hand but holding a few cards back. However, when Tarak assigned the final team's role a hint of the surprise she felt inside showed on Phi's face. She couldn't stop her eyes from glancing at Laurey carrying a look of confusion. That woman was almost certainly the most tech savvy crew member on this ship, but after spending a little time with her going over combat analysis Phi was a little worried about her constitution. Maybe she was wrong but she thought she had picked up little signs that Laurey wasn't physically feeling well lately. Or the whole time Phi had known her. Even if that wasn't the case she was extremely valuable in Phi's eyes while her own skills were at best adequate for this particular job. So why?

[I]Is this… about Proxima? Ahh, that makes sense. If it were me I suppose I wouldn't want someone like me on the ground either. I cracked during the most critical operation and others paid for it. But why Ariel? I can see Amy being better off away from the gunfire but- ah, it's no use thinking about this anymore. We've got our jobs and I'm not about to raise a fuss now.[/i]

Phi's face became blank and impassive once more. With a sharp nod she set aside the launcher and took a seat at one of the consoles.

[color=8493ca]"Yessir, I'll do my best from here. The rest of you be safe down there."[/color]

She didn't look at anyone after that, getting right to work. There were a lot of preparations to be made if she was going to do this right.