A recent return sat in the repair bay, slightly dinged from the excursions down to the planet. But that wasn't the reason it was sitting in the Tuia's cove; apparently the T-86's left arm wasn't responding properly. Pouriin had done what she could without the pilot to test it for kinks, and she also had tinkered with its ion shielding while she had the time. However now she just wanted the mecha out so she could look over the blue-prints for the SEVO. She wanted to see if she could some home divert the pulsar power and maintain it so the car could be used in more areal locations like Jupiter below.

Wiping some of the mechanical dust and grease from her jacket, she stood back and admired the mecha. It was impressive, and hopefully she was able to not only fix the arm but put in an extra boost to the ion shield as well. But in order to find out if it had been repaired she had to find it's user, or any pilot, she wasn't really sure how that part worked. Walking out of the bay Pouriin was hoping to find some pilots, but it seemed like they were on break somewhere. "Meh. Whatever, I'll just go grab a nice drink from the shopping center. Hey, any'ya want something while I'm out?" She yelled into the other coves, hearing only a murmuring back she took it as a chorus of no's. The walk wasn't very far but the change in lighting was enough to make her squint, the bay was much darker compared to this part of the ship. There were always people hanging around in the shopping area, and today was no different.

Andross blinked in confusion, asking, "Why would there be awkwardness, Duke, when we are simply doing a job?" as he thought to himself, 'He doesn't appear to be the sharpest knife in the set, but he is very likely smarter than he seems since he is a pilot. Either that or he is simply lucky.' A somewhat devious smile came over his face as stepped closer, an eager look in his eye, "You know, Duke, I can think of a very to-the-point way we can get to know each other."

(I'll get to posting when I can gonna be busy today xD )

Duke looked at his new partner. "Well you know, It would be good to know about you, things you like, dislike, favourite book yaddah yaddah you get the picture, oh and also if I say something and then you wish to think that I was dead or something!" He chuckled slightly. Suddenly Andross got very close to Duke and said something about a close to the point way of getting to know each other. "Sorry mate, don't swing that way, got nothing against it, just not my preference." Alec took a step back from Andross so he wasn't so close. "Ooh a coffee shop i'll be back in a tick!" 'I think I may have set out on the wrong foot, and leaving may not have been the best option, dammit Duncan think things through!'

The Tuia was making her way through the crowds, they were thicker than she had anticipated and didn't scuttle away from her like they did in the repair bay. At least the coffee shop wasn't too far away, she even thought she could see it ahead. Lure bobbing in front of her face, the faint glow lit her harsh features up; she was rather striking for a Tuia from the Deeps but bordered on what humans often considered frightening. Making her way to the coffee shop she found herself standing behind a human male.
"Uh, Kid? You goin' in? 'Cause I kinda need the caffeine to deal with step eight of the Mecha I'm repairing. 'Cause gods know I can't deal with pilots without it." Pouriin muttered the last bit under her breath. Most of the ones she had dealings with were kinda bratty, and never thanked her for fixing their precious units let alone the upgrades she gave them.

Atallie watched the two older men as they went on their way, she felt bad for sounding so rude, she was just a tad socially awkward. She sat down on a bench nearby and watched the people. Then she gazed out at the giant planet of Jupiter out of the side window. She noticed the alien fish- girl? walking to the coffee shop, how could she see where she was going with those big eyes? Curious she started to follow her, she knew she was a mechanic but she never got to really say anything to her. She thought she was very brave being around those machines all the time.

As for the shop itself she wasn't interested in coffee, it tasted weird. She saw the males from earlier, but she wasn't surprised; they were adults. She approached the scaly girl "You're..the mechanic right?" she said in a sheepish tone. "I'm sorry if you're busy..." she didn't mean to be rude, but she was curious about her, she herself was part alien so her appearance didn't bother her much.

"One'a the best on this space hunk. And nah I ain't busy right now, just trying to get some caffeine down the chute before I have to explain the repairs and upgrades on the T-86 to the pilot who let the arm ice over like that." She gave a heavy sigh before turning around to see the small girl. It didn't seem like the line was going any faster, so she supposed she could spare the girl a few minutes time. "Name's Pouriin, and I'm the Mechanic that not only fixes problems but comes up with many of the upgrades and retro-fits on the mechas here. Sometimes I think that the pilots either don't take the time to explore their machines properly or just assume the upgrades come naturally. Anyways; you are?"

The Tuia wasn't well tuned into the proper etiquette of conversation and her mind was racing a mile-a-minute as usual. Mentally dismantling a SEVO based on pure observation, and calculating where excess weight could be removed to make room for the designs she had in mind. Absently patting her pockets for her small notebook, her large eyes remained unblinking.

Duke heard the irritated tones of a woman behind him "Well excuse me your highness, didn't know we had the que..." He turned to see who he was talking to "ee ahhh!" He turned to meet a large pair of black bug like eyes staring at him "Oh I'm sorry for the out burst, I didn't realise you were so close to me!" He gave a short chuckle 'Why do I get the feeling that she's about to eat my face?' Duke didn't speak to aliens on the craft very often so he didn't really know what to talk to them about. He examend the creature in front of him and noticed that it was wearing an out fit mostly seen in the hangers. "Have I seen you before? Are you a ground handler or somthing? Oh my names Duke, I'm one of the pilots here on the ship." He stuck his hand out to meet the woman infront of him. 'She looked like one of those fish that used to live at the bottom of the ocean back on earth.'

Sah'Xu sat in her clinc finishing serving her customer "Now remember you need to wait for solution to turn blue then you heat it, don't heat it then wait, it will just ruin the drink and you will need to start over okay? Is there anything else I can help you with? No, okay well then have a nice day!" She watched the customer leave and started to reorganise her products. 'Hmm what if I put the Raksh ointment over with the tablet variant? Oh should I place based on treatment? Gah I can't think' She put the bottle back on the shelf, she turned and looked to the door. 'A quick walk wouldn't hurt.' She walked to the counter and found a back in 5 minuets sign, she placed it on a shelf on the front window it wobbled slight then levelled out floating on the shelf as if it were magic, she left and locked the door and walked down the promenade observing what was going on around her, she saw people chating and laughing it made her happy to see people like this after all that has happened to them, she then saw a familiar pilot. "Mr Andross! How are you I hope that you are feeling better, have you been taking the tablets I gave to you?"

"Yeah? Well you can shove it Pinky!" Pouriin snarled right back at him before she heard his entire apology, she used one of the softer speciest slurs for 'human'. She didn't like being treated like a monster so she often reacted harshly to those who did so. Pouriin finally found the small notebook she was searching for, but no pen. The pen in question was neatly tucked behind one of her head fins, yet she still searched half-minded for it.

"Wait? A pilot you said? You wouldn't happen to be a T-86 pilot who recently returned with a malfunctioning left arm? 'Cause I got one sitting in my bay waiting for a test run." Her long fingers drifted up to push back some of her head fins, bumping into the pen. Plucking it out, she quickly flipped through pages in the notebook, pen flashing across the paper as insight on the mechanical thruster capacity came to her.

Duke scratched the back of his head. "Hmmm now that you mention it I do remember using a T-86, but that was a few months ago... These days I'm normally flying an Eagle or an E-52 cus uhh, lets say Mechs aren't my forte! Hmm but I'm heading back to the hangers after I've got my coffee I could do a little snooping to find out who was using it last, I mean if that's what you want me to do? I could just bugger off and leave it to you if you want." He crossed his arms and yawned slightly turning to the cue. "Oh come on you're getting a coffee not preparing a Sunday roast! I got places to be!" He turned back to the mechanic. "It's never normally like this... I can't think why though...?"

Atallie didn't have time to respond as the two started arguing. She cleared her throat and turned to the fish lady, "Where are you from? You know I'm part alien too.." she told her hoping she wasn't bothering her too much. "You're brave getting that close to machines...I'm too scared of them, I'm thinking maybe I shouldn't be a pilot anymore because of my phobias." She pondered this thought as she spoke of it maybe it was for the best that she quit, after all what good was a fear of machines?

"I just need a pilot to test it. I'm a first-class mechanic and not only did I repair the mech's arm but I'm pretty sure I've boosted the ion shield's absorbancy ratio by thirteen percent. Which is something I need to test, but need a pilot to do so." She was still writing notes down as she spoke, she could both compartmentalize and utilize her thoughts at the same time working on multiple projects and conversing at the same time. Since she wasn't getting any further in line for coffee, and the male wasn't the pilot she needed to finish her current project, she returned her attention to the girl.

"Sorry, I'm from the Deeps, on Neptune... I'm a Tuia, not a monster. Hmmm... you don't say, I'm sorry I didn't catch your name, but you say you're also a pilot?" the girl was much smaller than she was and had delicate features, probably Par'Xa. "A pilot with a fear of machines, hmm. Honestly they're not all that scary when they're not in use. When they sit in my bay they're basically just intricate hunks of metal, masterfully pieced together like one of those Earthen Pocket-watches. I'm highly intrigued by how the pieces fit together and work together, and I'm constantly pushing the edges of the envelope to see just how much they can handle. Did you know that I can get the standard B-86 fitted with nine weapons and extended ammo for the missile launcher, granted you see a 42% decrease in speed and a 27% decrease in maneuverability. I can't create the perfect machine but I'm trying." Pouriin started rambling on about her work and the aspects of the mechs. It was clear she loved her job. "Say you wouldn't be willing to stop down in the repair bay, I could let you see the work I'm putting into this particular mech. And I could bounce some ideas off of you about the SEVO, seeing as you are or were a pilot, and might have some more practical ideas regarding the craft."

Andross felt his PDA vibrate and saw that he had a change to his schedule, he wasn't going to report to the academy immediately with his new partner and put on a show for one of the classes, a simulated combat session between the two pilots each pitted against the other in the two combat vehicle types, mech and aircraft. He remembered getting a memo about it a while back when he had been scheduled to do it with Atallie and thought the demonstration was just going to be scrapped following her 'episode.' The human frowned as he forwarded the message to Duke's PDA to make sure he got it and started for the Academy, thinking, "Command doesn't do things without more than one reason. With Atallie, it was to see who was the best between the two of us as well as teach the students. Now, I suppose it's to see how well we work together. Eh, I was planning on doing that with him anyway since the best way to get close to your partner is to fight him. First I'll test his piloting skills, then I'll see if he's any good at hand-to-hand."

"Ms. Williams, do you know why I called you to my office?"

"Negative, Professor Birch," the young, seemingly human girl replied.

The old, mustachioed man let out a sigh, feeling fairly uncomfortable as he said, "Ms. Williams... you do know we may not have a school uniform, but we do have a dress code... and you forgot to put your pants back on after gym... again."

Alpha-Jupiter 'AJ' Williams looked down and saw that she was, in fact, not wearing pants, but felt that remembering her panties was certainly a good thing. She looked back up, her face still an expressionless mask as she said, "Ah, I apologize, Professor Birch, I will attempt to be more mindful of my external coverings from now on."

Professor Birch nodded, handing her the pants a janitor had found in the locker rooms where the San'she girl had left them, saying, "Please do, Ms. Williams. Back to class now, before you miss a demonstration by some humanity's few pilots."

Alpha-Jupiter nodded, sliding her pants on and grabbing her school bag, running back to her class to make sure she didn't miss out on a real-live, virtual demonstration.

(I'm really sorry I haven't posted >_< I just lost interest in menewsha lately D: )