Teranonda, 785 Universal Era 

It was a massive ship, there was no doubt about that. It stood among a swath of smaller ships on an outdoor pad just outside of the city limits. Its hull was painted a rather dull shade of red, nearly giving it the tone of rust. It was bulky, like most cargo ships. Four large engines powered it from the rear. It was said that the ship had decent control for its size, the secondary and guiding engines on the ships narrow wings were said to be the reason. Put the right pilot on board and you might be able to get some tight steering out of it, not that the ship was designed for combat by any means. 

The new owner of the ship, and also the new captain, watched as a large rectangular panel lowered from the ships belly, touching down on the ground with a thunderous boom. The Marlek huffed a long sigh as he examined the ship, "Well." He grunted, "Now for the hard part." The easy part was finding and purchasing the ship. The hard part would be finding a suitable crew. He was a seasoned captain with more than a couple vessels that had been under his control, none of which saw a grisly end. 

Ginsrag was his name. He was a Trugon, to a human he might look like a giant wolf that walked on its hind legs. He was large by Trugon standards, usually standing a good bit taller than most Neko or Marlek. His fur was a light gray over most of his body, a few brown streaks ran between his ears and down his neck and back. His clothing was pretty typical for a Marlek, his pants were plain and tan in color, his upper body was covered by a long brown jacket that cut off around his knees. It was held together by three straps buckled at his chest and stomach. 

"Where are we unpacking this stuff?" A voice called from behind him. 

Ginsrag glanced over his shoulder where a small vehicle sat idly, it's cargo full of his personal belongings and some needed appliances for the ship, "Just load it onto the pad." He said before turning back towards his new ship. His eyes rose towards a line of white letters that read Ronsar across the ships hull. "I guess that name will due." He commented quietly to himself. 

~ ~ ~ ~

A few hours later Ginsrag sat himself down within the clutter on the ships cargo pad, waiting for his first potential crew member. The ship was owned by an Earth based supply company before Ginsrag bought it, so it came equipped with a human control and steering room. To try and save some money Ginsrag decided to see if he could hire himself a human pilot rather than installing an entirely new control station. 

A small human transport made its way over to the bad, Ginsrag leaned forward in his chair as the shuttle came to a halt. A small figure exited the ship, which then promptly sped away back towards the city. There was an awkward pause as the human stared up towards Ginsrag who appeared like a mountain sitting in the chair looming over him. Ginsrag stood up from his chair before taking a small step towards the human, he then leant down, "You would be-" He glanced at his handheld computer, "Devon Wilkers?" 

Devon watched as the massive hand touched down next to him, "God damn this guy is big." He whispered to himself. He stepped up onto the Marleks palm, bracing himself as the hand rose  towards the Marleks face. "Yes sir." He responded loudly. 

"Good." Ginsrag's eyes examined the human, "I hope your resume checks out?"

Devon shifted nervously under the monstrous Marleks gaze, "Everything in there was the truth, sir." He replied. Devon was twenty six years old. He had worked a few ships before, none quite as massive as the Ronsar. 

Ginsrag set the human down on top of a crate and pulled his chair over so he could sit and talk with the prospective pilot. "Well your scores from the academy are rather impressive." He began, "Not many humans take to the larger ships very well."

"Thank you sir." Devon replied.

"And it says here you originally trained on Earth? That's a long way from here."

"I didn't want to be a corporate pilot." Devon explained, "About the only jobs you can score on Earth are with Military ships or corporate vessels." 

"So I hear." The Ginsrag replied tugging at a tuft of fur under his lower jaw, "What brought you out to Teranonda?"

Devon sighed, "My last ship ended here..."

"Ended?"

"Basically it broke down, we weren't even supposed to land here but the ship wasn't going to last." He felt the Marleks stare judging him, "But, the ships demise wasn't my doing. In fact it was a pretty impressive landing on my part that kept us all alive...the damn engineers got lazy on us...that's why the ship faltered."

Ginsrag chuckled, "Does not surprise me. And how long ago was this?"

"About three months ago."

"So you are in need of work badly then?"

"Very much so." Devon replied, "But...uh, I would be glad to work with this ship...desperate or not."

"Well then. Let's get up to the controls and see what you can do." Ginsrag said holding out his hand.

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Ginsrag stood in the control room, his large arms cross over his chest as he looked down on the pilots platform. "Finding everything?" He asked to the small human who sat at a large, semicircular console.

"Yeah, everything seems pretty standard." Devon called over his shoulder, he could feel hot wafts of somewhat humid air flowing past him as the Marlek leaned forward to watch him. "I like the windows...my last ship had tiny slits compared to these things." 

"Yes well that is pretty standard among hybridized vessels." Ginsrag replied standing back to his full height, "Go on and start her up."

"Yes sir." Devon replied, his hands flowing across the console. There was a slight tremble throughout the ship as the engines ignited. "We are clear for take off. You want me to take her for a spin?" 

Ginsrag nodded, "Yeah." 

Devon nodded, pulling back on the joysticks lightly at first. The ship trembled again as they lifted off the ground, "Easy does it." Devon whispered to himself, grinning as the ship lifted higher and higher. "She takes off clean." He called over his shoulder.

"Good, good. Go ahead and take us for a loop." 

Devon took a deep breath, pushing the joysticks forward. "Smooth." He commented, not feeling the jerks and pulls of his old ship. "It goes right where I want it." 

Ginsrag leaned forward, panting lightly which for a Marlek translates into a grin, "Great. You are comfortable with the controls then?"

Devon cleared his throat, feeling a little uneasy engulfed in the Marleks breath, "Y-Yes sir." He could almost feel moisture building on the back of his neck.  He glanced over his shoulder, eyes immediately falling on a pair of canines nearly as tall as himself. A slick looking tongue slipped in and out rapidly, flowing deep into the monstrous maw before being hidden by shadow.

"Feeling alright?" Ginsrag asked, noting a slight change in the humans demeanor. 

"Oh, yes sir I am fine." Devon said, "Just a little nervous at the size of the, erm, ship." He said, turning his gaze back outside of the window, watching as the city passed far below them, "You want me to turn her back around?"

Ginsrag nodded, "A good idea. Not very wise to man a ship like this with two hands for very long." He said with a chuckle. "Speaking of, I believe some more potential crew members will be arriving on the pad soon."

"So um, you like what you see so far, Captain?" 

Ginsrag laughed, "Well, that will depend on your landing." 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Several Hours Later...

Ginsrag sighed, his hand scratching behind his ear as another future crew member walked away from the ship. The random labor jobs were numerous and easy to fill, he saw little reason to turn away anyone applying to be a cargo handler or miscellaneous upkeep staff. 

His eyes fell on the next potential employee. She was a Neko dressed in baggy pants and a loosely fitting white tank top, not exactly the normal outfit for one of her kind. What was also striking was her hair, or her lack of hair. She had cut it short to nearly a buz, just long enough to hide her scalp from view. He sat up in his chair as she came closer, "And you are?" 

"Feras Normcha." She said as she sat down rather casually in the seat before him. She carried with her a sort of spunk and confidence.

"Oh, so you are here for the lead engineer job." He commented, bringing up her resume on his handheld. His eyes narrowed as he read across her age, "Sixteenth Cycle?" He commented with a grunt, "That makes you what? Twenty five?"

She shrugged, "Around there." 

"You know being the head of the engine room on a vessel like this takes quite a bit of experience. Your resume here shows that you might have some skill with a power-wrench but this job takes a great deal of experience." He said, a little skeptical someone so young would be able to run this job. 

She smirked, a sort of unusual thing for a potential employee to do, "Sir, I was basically raised in the engine room of a city ship. To me this vessel is practically a single runner." By single runner she meant a small transport vehicle, while these were often used for personal travel the single was referred to a single small engine. 

Ginsrag eyed her resume, she had an attitude that was for sure. But many who worked deep in the guts of ships all their lives had one. He glanced back up towards her face, which lacked any sort of pleading look at all. She instead gave him an arched brow and a facial expression that seemed to scoff at his slowness in accepting her as her new head engineer already. She was damn confident, which is exactly what he wanted from someone looking to take her job. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Devon strolled through the human corridors that had been built into the ship with the last crew. The walls and floors were pretty much left their industry standard dull gray. Any decorations would have been removed as the last crew left. 

"Goin' to be a lonely place if this crew isn't all human." Devon commented quietly to himself. The last crew to run this ship was much larger than the crew that would be taking their place. Ginsrag said he figured there would be twenty some in total. But of these twenty there would be Marlek, Neko, and any other species that stumbled across Ginsrag's advertisement. 

He stopped by one of the shuttles and hit the call button. A shuttle on a ship like this is essentially an elevator that runs sideways through the ship to help the smaller passengers move around quickly. The doors slid open smoothly revealing the brightly lit shuttle. He stepped inside, eyeing the display for a moment before selecting the dot on the ship map by the main engine room. "Let's see what my baby is packin'" He continued to admire how his new ship was not a piece of shit as the shuttle ran its course. The last ship he was in never ran smoothly, and the lights were almost always dim and the walls and floors were rarely not pure metal. 

The shuttle came to a smooth stop at the engine room. He stepped off, gazing out into the wide expanse of complex and gigantic machinery. He let out a long winded whistle as he strolled over towards the railing, eyes trailing along the moving parts. His gaze finally fell on a figure kneeling down on the floor below, rummaging through some bags with their back facing towards him. The slender tail flicking side to side told him it was a Neko, a Fela to be specific.

"Hey!" He called, though the Neko didn't seem to notice. From the looks of it they seemed to be a younger boy, judging by his slender figure and short hair. "Hey kid!" He yelled a little louder, this time causing one of the Neko's ears to turn slightly in his direction. He watched as the Neko stood up, turning his way.

"Kid?" Feras asked with an arched brow.

"Oh..." Devon said, shifting under the harsh gaze as she approached him, the balcony he stood on reaching just under her chin, "You know, just a saying..."

"Right." She said, rolling her eyes, "So I take it your the pilot?"

"That's right. How did you figure?"

"Gin told me we were in need of a Human pilot...and as far as I know we haven't hired any others yet." 

"Gin?" Devon repeated with a laugh.

"He prefers to be called that." She folded her arms, "He didn't tell you?"

Devon shook his head, "I never did call him by his first name to begin with." He glanced around the room, "So uh, I guess you're the engineer?" 

A sly smile smirked across her lips, "Yeah. How you figure?" She said, just a hint of mocking in her voice. He was starting to get the feeling that she didn't care much for him already...but then again with past experiences he was a little wary of Engineers. 

"I guess I must smart." He said quietly unsure if she even heard his remark. "Well, I guess I'll keep on movin, check out the rest of my ship." 

"Your ship?" She said with a laugh, "Oh gosh all pilots are the same." 

"Whats that supposed to mean?" Devon retorted.

"Look. You aint the captain. You get the same paycheck as I do." 

"I didn't mean anything by it."

"I'm sure." She said rolling her eyes once again before turning back towards her bags, "See ya' around." She called lazily over her shoulder. 

Devon shook his head, walking back into the shuttle. "What a bitch." He commented quietly to himself after the doors had shut. "Well this should be fun."