The Artemis, The first hovercraft of many to come.

Roster for the Artemis;
Captain: Antoninas Londo (Shadow)
First Officer: Nahstaa (NONE)
Operator: Koori Ikazawa (Icelight)
Engineer: Tark (Crash Override)
Gunner: Kyoshiro Imazaki II (Zennith, Maistro)
Pilot: Lavan Chitward (Quickfire)

Kyo slowly walked onto the ship, inspecting and admiring the good job of recycling parts from previously destroyed ships.

(At the center of the earth, one can't be wastful with resources. They even have an old Ganji Cannon - last one made was thirty years ago, when ol' Ganji kicked the bucket.)

Kyo sat down at the familiar gunner's position and relaxed - the rest of the crew would arrive sometime, but in the meanwhile, he could get to know the ship better. And relex, that too. Within moments, he was fast asleep.

"All occupants of the Artemis, please enter your ship in the next 24 hours. Also, please send your captain to recieve orders from me. Your first assignment is ready."

Antoninas Londo stood quietly at the entrance of his new command, the Artemis, breathing in the air and listening to the vessel warm up... The smell and the sounds of the machinery bringing back nostalgic memories of his first vessel, the Takana. Incidentally, parts of the Artemis were from the destroyed Takana.

This moment of euphoria soon passed. Antoninas quickly began moving into the bowels of the vessel, intent upon finishing the vessel's warm up procedures, when the intercom began to blare.

"All occupants of the Artemis, please enter your ship in the next 24 hours. Also, please send your captain to recieve orders from me. Your first assignment is ready."

Antoninas swore. Reluctantly, he turned around. Stepping onto the gangway that connected the Artemis to the docking station, Antoninas walked swiftly towards the station.

Kyo nodded silently to the captain and continued reclining in his seat. He had been through these captains before, most of them were all the same. Kyo just sat quietly in the back as he always had and planned ahead.

Wandering through the bays of Zion with a pack slung over his shoulder, Quickfire sighs as he looks for his new assignment.

I knew I should have been more specific when I asked for directions. But I can't go back now and ask that lady. Men are never supposed to ask for directions

Taking a deep breath, he adjusts his pack so that it doesn't rub on his neck.

I'll just find it on my own... sooner or later.

Rounding a corner, Quickfire manages to restrain himself from jumping from joy as he spots the Artemis, but he still lets a smile come to his lips. Walking up the boarding ramp, he bangs on the hull a few times before calling out.

"What ho, the Artemis! Anyone home in here?"

OOC:Crap, didnt see this, sorry

IC: Walking up quietly behind quickfire and said:
"Boo," sarcastically, "You the pilot?"

Hearing the giveaway sounds of feet on metal, Quickfire is not too startled by Nahstaa's greeting. Turning slowly to face Nahstaa, he schools his expression to be like someone who was tolerating a small child.

"That was really mature of you. If you are on this ship, you better be acting more like you belong here, instead of with your mother.

Nahstaa had just managed to set off a small spark, but enough of a spark to get Quickfire's temper slightly roused. Oh, he was going to thoroughly enjoy this if Nahstaa decided to make a full-fledged argument out of this.

ooc:You really need to have a chat to me on IM
IC: Nahstaa looked over his shoulder and said:
"Look mate, im not here to make enemies. I am who i am, and if you can't exept it, thats your problem. I can hold my own in whats to come. If your in the mood to start something, can we get it done now, rather than when something important is going to happen???."

He said all of this calmly, not really worried what happend.

Nahstaa poked his tongue out at Quickfire, and turned to face him, grinning.

Kyo sat with a hat over his head, still feigning sleep. "Play nice, children. When you're done with your game you can start getting ready for bedtime." He stood up switfly and wandered over to the piloting console. "Whichever one of you is the pilot should check this equipment out. We've got to have at least four ships that contributed to this panel alone and they all run on different systems." Kyo sat down at the chair, spun around once, and faced them again. "Well, going to get to work?" He got up again, adjusted his hat, and headed toward the war room.

"Right, Ive obviously got off on the wrong foot, and if were going to be out there, fighting, we need to work as a team. Im nahstaa, first officer. My... habits are my way of being freindly, and letting out my emotions without hurting someone. Get used to it guys. Now, who are you guys???" He said all of this calmly, speaking maturely for the first time since he met these guys.

Nahstaa also walked to the war room, slowly, talking to quickfire.

Like a wraith, Antoninas Londo appeared out of nowhere, drifting into the Artemis, his face a mask. Glancing briefly at everyone, Antoninas began to speak, his voice gruff and slightly condescending, "Now boys... Welcome aboard your humble home for the next six weeks. As you should know, I am your Captain, Antoninas Londo. I want this ship ready to depart in two hours... If it is not ready, there will be hell to pay..."

Antoninas glared at his subordinates and stalked off, heading towards the central power core of the Artemis...

Seconds away from releasing the full maelstrom of his fury, Quickfire calms down as Antoninas appears. Closing his eyes for a moment, he gets his emotions under control, and looks up at Nahstaa.

"I'm Quickfire. Just to give you equally fair warning, I can have a very viscious temper, and it doesn't take that much to set it off. Make sure that that other guy knows that. I'm going to work on the piloting controls now.

With that, Quickfire turns and heads up to the cockpit. Dropping into the seat, he is soon busy familiarizing himself with the different systems.

Nahstaa walked with the captain, and said
"Im Nahstaa, your first officer. Ill be getting ready if you need anything."

Nahstaa went to check on kyo, and the guns, without waiting for a reply, not as a sign of disrespect, but because he had a lot to do.

"How you going?"

Walking onto the ship crash overide asked, "Am I late? Glad to see the commotion has settled down, what was all the fuss about?"

Kyo turned to Nahstaa and stood up. "First Officer Nahstaa, I presume" he said, looking at the man's uniform. "Now that the fighting is over, perhaps we could find somewhere to get onto the Matrix." Kyoshiro began walking toward the door, listening intently. "Well, our captain is on board. Since I have been given no briefing, perhaps I could propose a mission to our captain. First Officer Nahstaa, feel free to go about your business."

Kyoshiro entered the main area and found Antoninas. "Captain Londo, I am Gunner Kyoshiro Imazaki. I am unsure as to whether a mission is currently outlined and could propose one, if possible."

Kyo remembered back to when he was almost caught fraternizing with Programs on the Matrix, an action which had since created an unerasable blemish upon his name. Earlier on he had already disappeared on numerous missions, as the computer did not expect to track him when he was hidden as Maestro. Hopefully this captain would not be as condescending as the others had been.

"Council members have been talking of the ship Iphicles, considered to be a lost cause after having disappeared two days ago. We do not know where it was, suffice to say that it was plugged into the Matrix when it went missing."

Again, Kyo neglected to tell his commanding officer everything. His close friend and adoptive sister, Lelaine Tournes, a woman who spent a brief period hiding in the Chantal Deuxieme.

"You must have undoubtedly read my files and have seen my extensive combat experience. Information gathering should not be a difficult task for myself, even if I go alone."

OOC: I really think our Characters need to come together and introduce ourselves, if were going into battle. Also, we need an operator badly... Also, as if you wear uniform...

IC: Nahstaa, having checked the guns, and been called first officer alot, which he didnt really like, Decided to hear what Kyo had to say, and, after hearing it, spoke up.
"If you decide to take on this mission captain, I would also like to volunteer."

Antoninas glanced briefly at Kyo's, frowning at his impertinence. Sighing inwardly, Antoninas stood from his position checking on the power core and glared at the younger man. In a contemptuous tone, Antoninas said, "Watch your tongue, young pup... I don't need a youngster telling me what to do."

His mouth curling up in a smirk, Antoninas continued, "We've got a mission, already," breaking Kyo's hopes, "But we may have time to do this side mission, your proposing," in hopes of placating Kyo for the short term.

Antoninas gestured for Kyo to leave and whirled and glared at his First Officer. "Well now, Mr. First... What do you have to say for yourself?"

Pausing, Antoninas continued, "Nothing, eh... Well, you have overstepped your grounds. You are hereby prohibited from joining any mission into the "Matrix." Your position under my command is to protect this ship..."

Wow, these guys need to get along together a lot more, Crash thought to himself.

"If I may ask, what is our mission?" he asked.

"I can deal with that captain, but I request permission to gather the crew, and get to know all of them. I cannot protect this ship if i do not know the crew, and dont really work well with them. It would take 5 minutes. May I???"

Nahstaa wasnt particularly happy about the... tactics of this captain, but he still couldnt help liking him... He would get the crew going nicely...

Nahstaa didnt like not being given a chance to Explain, reply or apologise for his actions.

"I feel a lot of... friction with the crew..."

Kyo stared straight ahead at the captian. He could not help but wonder how such an SOB got into this position. His credentials did not appear to be nearly as impressive as Kyo's and yet the experienced gunner was stuck on board with this inefficient moron. A moron that didn't share vital mission information. A moron that dismissed his own First Officer because he felt like interrupting him. A moron that allowed efficiency to fall to nothing. A moron who didn't deserve the ship that he was captain of. But Kyo wouldn't do anything about it, yet.

"Captain, my opinion is duly noted as worthless. I shall man the guns and scour the nearby walls of Zion of enemies."

Kyo threw up a military salutre and headed to his position, motioning with his eyes for Nahstaa to join him, his back to the captain.

Carefully scrutinizing a bit of circuitry, Quickfire can't help but overhear the fighting that is going on in between the rest of the crew.

This is going to be one interesting trip. A small smile graces Quickfire's lips as Nahstaa gets put into place by Antoninas. I believe that the Captain may well be a match to me if we got into a fight. Though I am interested in what the outcome would be, I think I'll try a little harder to keep my peace with the Captain.

Moving on from the circuitry, Quickfire fiddles with the steering controls, waiting for the Captain to give the order to get out of Zion.

Nahstaa, having seen kyos look, didnt follow... yet.
He wanted to give the captain a chance to answer. Also, he didnt want these... 'discussions' to go any further than they had.

OOC: Then what are we supposed to do? This is going nowhere because everyone isn't getting along.

Kyo stood upright at his panel and walked up to Antoninas. "We have an order, sir, the council is telling us to get on with the mission - we've been deliberating in the docking bay for hours now. If we're not going to go anywhere, I can go off and be on another expedition that'll leave in a few days, potentially before the bickering ends."

(OOC: There is no such thing as an indecisive captain, right now... However, there is such thing as a busy person, i.e. me...)

Antoninas Londo growled angrily at the impatience of the other members of the crew. They had no right to be impatient with someone who accepted and worked to fulfill his responsibility to the utmost.

Furious, Antoninas walked past Kyo, saying, "Meeting on the bridge in five minutes..."

Quickly, Antoninas arrived at the bridge and sat down in the closest chair and took a deep breath, attempting to release the anger...

When he felt he was back under control, Antoninas turned on the ship intercom and spoke into, saying simply, "Meeting on the bridge in three minutes..."

Kyo entered in is regular, silent manner and sat down at the Gunner's Post, away from where the captain was sitting. He placed his hat down over his head and lay still, waiting for something to occur.

Leaving his controls, Quickfire makes his way to the bridge. Sitting down, worry starts to overpower his natural lust for a good fight at the way things were going with the crew.

Walking in quietly he sat down in a chair across from the caption and closed his eyes.

Nahstaa moved to the bridge, glad that something was finally happening. This needed to be sorted out once and for all.

Antoninas Londo wearily eyed his crew. Sighing to himself, he stood and silently looked condescendingly down upon the arrogant idiots that made up his crew.

Abruptly, he began to speak, "We will be performing a retrieval mission. There is a package waiting for us at the Mortar Street Post Office. We'll pick up the package labeled, the Black Sheep."

Pausing, Antoninas eyed his gunner and said, "If we have time, we'll try to find the Iphicles. However that is not a promise..."

Stopping, Antoninas watched his crew, allowing his words to sink in. Finally, Antoninas took a deep breath and said, "Okay lads... Get off your asses and get to work... We're slated to leave in one hour..."

Without waiting for a response, Antoninas turned and sat down at his chair, whirling it around and began working at the console, slowly powering up the Artemis.

Nahstaa moved about the ship, powering up the operators consoles, as he was not going to be going into the matrix.

He couldnt hack in yet, but he got everything ready

Sitting down in the computer consul he did a preliminary check on the ship.

OOC: GAH! *flails* I'm sorry I'm late but I was dead under schoolwork... *flails some more*
----------------------

The door to the ship opened, framing a relatively young woman. "I'm sorry I'm late," she said, her voice calm and mildly apologetic. "I was on the Ship Yevegaus and they docked only a few minutes ago." She stepped into the ship, the door closing behind her as she executed a quick, precise bow. Behind her back, her right hand clenched a silver coin to battle the butterflies in her stomach - she was hardly what one would call socially graceful, and hated making bad first impressions. "My name is Koori Ikazawa, but I'm also called Icelight - call me what you want. I've been given orders to be the Artemis's Operator."

Kyo walks up to Koori and eyes her curiously. "Have we... met before? If not, you happen to look strikingly like someone that I know very well." For a moment his eyes are open with anticipation, yet they soon drop down to their regular, ajar state as he returns to his gunner's position. "Captain Londo, all weaponry is functioning at optimum levels," Kyo eyed the most critical asset to the ship - the EMP - and his fingers danced over it console "...EMP in mint condition, ready to be used at a moment's notice. Not that we'll need it, with luck." Kyo continued looking over the console "...online weaponry loaded if needed, though I'll leave it up to our Operator-" he paused for a moment, hardly noticible in his rather sporadic method of speaking "-to load these up when we need them. Captain Londo, just tell me what we're doing and I'll get whatever weapons we could possibly need." losing his usual half-asleep disposition, Kyo focused intensly upon the screens at and, his entire being excited by another mission after months of being grounded. The Chantal had to be investigated.

“Better late than never.” crash said as he turned his attention to the caption.

“All systems a-ok.” he said as he sat back in his chair.

Antoninas glanced up briefly from his work as another crewmember entered the vessel. Sighing to himself and his task of shepherding so many youngsters, Antoninas stood and was about to acknowledge her, when Kyo stood. After listening to Kyo, Antoninas stuck a hand into his pocket and pulled out a disk and handed it to Kyo. In a quiet voice, Antoninas said, “This disk contains a couple of weapons that aren’t in the standard database. They will be useful for use, later.”

Turning his attention back to the newcomer, Antoninas said, “Welcome aboard the Artemis, your humble home for the next few weeks. If you don’t know me, I am Captain Antoninas Londo, your commanding officer. You must be Koori…”

Koori eyed the gunner with curiosity at his odd question. An odd feeling awoke in the back of her mind, but refused to give her anything more than a vague fuzzy feeling, even after she chased it around for a few moments. Dropping the chase and putting the feeling to the side, she replied, "Perhaps. I have piloted on many, many different ships since I was freed from the Matrix."

Turning her attention to her commanding officer, she used a more official-sounding tone. "It's a pleasure to serve under you, Captain Londo, sir. I've heard great things about your abilities."

The niceties over (or so she hoped), she walked over to the part of the ship she was to control of the Artemis, pulling on the headset and clicking a few buttons, soon becoming lost in the well-worn routine. Her hand dropped the coin and it fell to dangle on a small chain, connected to her wrist.

Watching the newest member come onto the ship for a moment, Quickfire soon loses interest and goes back to working on the flight controls.

This might be interesting. Five guys, one girl.

When he finished what he was doing, Antoninas Londo activated the intercom and said, "Is everything, ready? Cause we're moving out... All personnel to their stations..."

Deactivating the intercom, Antoninas Londo moved swiftly to the cockpit, sitting down in the co-pilot's seat and began to activate the Artemis's hovering mechanisms...

About time, he thought to himself as he monitored the hovering mechanisms.