The stinging pain from the slap would probably sit there for a good minute, but it wasn't anything Talus couldn't handle. He just simply rubbed the spot in the feigned hope it would help ease the pain away. "Well at least there's no question about my bravery. Oh, and I don't know about you, but it's hard to trust a pilot with your life when you don't know who that pilot is. So how's this, let's start off with a name, and I'll [i] try [/i] to leave you alone. My name is Talus Oravian. Now, am I getting a name, or is another palm coming my way?"

However, before the pilot was able to answer, the CO came over the intercom ordering the ground crew to meet in the Conference room for a mission briefing. Talus turned his head while walking away, "I expect a name when I get back Ms. Sunshine." The [i] hum [/i] and [i] drum [/i] of the ship would put anyone to sleep if there were no other sounds, but with all the commotion, that was unlikely. Though listening to it did give Talus a sense of comfort in otherwise fairly new territory. 

[i] The Talava system, didn't my old squad and I have to deal with some slavers there? [/i] Talus thought to himself as he passed all the consoles and rode the elevator up to Deck 1. The conference room seemed to be in the middle of the deck while the CO's and XO's cabins flanked it on the opposite side. Two simple sliding doors were that stood between the CO and Talus now. The doors slid open with a resounding [i] hiss [/i] and closed the same way once he crossed the threshold. Talus took a look around the room before picking a spot at the table to stand at. A rather plain room, it was easily noticeable the interior designer had prior service on starships. A large table dominated the room with an intercom system in the middle. While the room may have been boring, Talus was sure this place was sound- and bug proof to hinder any would-be spies. [i] Never can be too sure nowadays. [/i]

And finally, the only left of importance in the room was the commander, who stood at the opposite end of the table, simply waiting for the room to fill up before he gave the briefing. Talus figured now would be a good time to meet the commander before anyone interrupted them. "Hello Commander Krushov. I don't think introductions are in order, at least not yet anyway. Will you be joining us on the ground missions?"