The hum of machinery surrounded her, soothing and comforting. The pilot, Jonathan Hawk, was a trusted friend and ally and so she felt free to drift at ease. The small nanites in her blood were working furiously at repairing the recent damage done, and she felt the tiredness in her bones.

There was the ache of waiting to take the medicine, but that was always there and she could hold off a bit longer before finding the pack of cigarettes. It was out of pride she held off finding them, she knew, something about requiring the medicine to remain functional rankled, perhaps that would fade in time.

"How many days since you punched someone Rook?" Hawk called to her from the next cabin, probably meant he was bored.

This was a game they played often and it always came to the same conclusion, still she would humor him. Those with the skills of technomancy usually came with a specific set of mental peculiarities some subtle, some obvious. For Rook they were subtle until you got to know her and found out that nearly everything she did was cataloged and measured in days since something had happened.

"Four, but we can get that one reset if you're cruising for a bruising." She drifted down into one of the cushioned seats and waited.

"How many days since you had some real orange juice?" He was moving closer, he'd be in her cabin shortly.

"One hundred twenty two days. If you want to get that one reset I wouldn't be upset to find some orange juice in the supplies."

His mop of shaggy brown hair popped in through the hatch and he had that stupid smirk that meant he was about to deliver the finale. "How many days since you got laid, Rook?"

"And there goes the counter for "Days since Hawk asked an inappropriate question." Although I suppose I should change that since you asked that same inappropriate question." She thought about that seriously, despite the fact this was a game of questions, she took her counters very seriously.

"Let me guess, one of these days you're going to answer that and I, poor me, will be crushed as I will be forced to admit it's not that you don't sleep with men, it's that you don't sleep with me." The smirk deepened and Rook thought he'd stop doing that if he knew how unattractive that made him look.

He tossed a pack of cigarettes at her chest before he turned and ducked back out of her cabin. She could hear him chuckling on his way back to the pilots pit and she bit back the urge to shoot him. The fact he brought the cigarettes to her meant he was paying closer attention to her than she thought, she would need to keep that in mind. Sometimes his air-headed flyboy attitude fooled even those that knew better....definitely needed to keep that in mind.

The space was silent, as silent within as it was without. After speaking with Hawk and assessing the situation they both agreed it was time to take a trip away. They were on their way to a world that promised to be culturally interesting, as if she had any bloody interest in culture at the moment.

Rook waved a hand an a ball of fire appeared in the air before her, crackling and then imploding. "I told you not to do that on the ship, Rook. The hull is solid but you shouldn't test it, the lack of atmosphere out there will kill even you." Hawk moved into the small cabin, dropping into one of the chairs as though he just went boneless. "Not to mention me, ah think of the loss there! All those women pining lost opportunities!"

"Just about enough to break my heart, Hawk. No really, I'm totally not joking. Not even a little bit." Her expression was blank and her tone flat, a pretty good indicator that the words were about to implode under the weight of sarcasm.

"You admit you have a heart' I'm shocked, I thought for sure you replaced that long ago with something more technological. How very quaint of you Rook." His gaze focused on her face now, he was checking her mental condition. She knew he was doing it, he knew she knew and was aware that it triggered anger.

It was common among technomancers to replace fragile organs with technological ones. The nanites in her blood allowed for easy adaption of such advances. Rook didn't like the idea of further dehumanizing, there was already a rift between those with technomancer skills and those without.

"Oh sure, I have a heart, but it's two-sizes too small." Another flicker of a finger and a line of fire appeared in the air before her, it writhed like a snake caught out of its element.

"Hey now Rook, no need to be like that. If you really want to play with fire we can flirt. " He didn't move, keeping his form loose on the chair and feigning humor. When they had first met Hawk had thought her a cold-hearted bitch, had believed it thoroughly until he realized her demeanor was one adopted to keep people at a distance.

There was a time, just before the attack, where Hawk had considered entering into a more personal relationship with the woman. Her wit and mind were sharp, her combat skills both deadly and sexy, once you got past the flat, sarcastic exterior she was warm and giving. Now....he wanted to be the same around her, she was still the same woman, but he could not get past the fear. He had witnessed a technomancer level an entire city without so much as breaking a sweat. Despite heroic efforts on his part that fear seeped out of his pores and he could see the knowledge of it written in that calculating gaze of Rooks.

"Flirt." That was the only word she spoke into the silence that followed. The tone gave Hawk no indication if it was a statement or a question, or something else. Before the attack he'd have known, but war changes people and it had left a deep imprint on him.

Just when he felt about to break under the weight of those hazel eyes a chime sounded. He nearly laughed as he was saved from the situation from so simple a device. "Gotta get back to the pit, we'll be arriving at Rhydin shortly."

"What kind of name is Rhydin, anyway' Very well, go play with your buttons and knobs." Dismissing both Hawk and the thread of fire with a wave of her hand, if a flicker of grief passed over those features it was gone too quickly to register. Rising from the seat Hawk left her alone with her thoughts....they were poor company to combat the sense of loss she felt, but they were all she had left.

When the powerful are threatened by insanity it is rare to see them make the rational decision to remove themselves from power....perhaps it was no mere threat"

It was the fifth day that Rook was locked in the small room she had taken in their new apartment. She might have taken provisions in there with her but Hawk wasn't sure and he was beginning to worry; were he honest with himself he had started to worry that first day.

"Rook." He knocked on the door, a solid knock so that he did not sound as timid as he felt. "Rook, we need to go, we've been given orders." He was greeted with silence. Steeling himself he turned the knob and pushed the door open.

The room was not just a room anymore, it was a battle station. Rook sat in the center of six hovering, glowing displays, each showing different information. She would have integrated the system with her nanities making it easier for her to send commands to each of the screens and allowing the information to flow directly to her mind. Words flew across the displays faster than Hawk could read and for a moment he stood there silent.

"The orders are not really from my father, or if he did send them he was coerced." Rook spoke into the silence, her hand waved and one of the screens brought up the image of a planet, not one Hawk recognized. "Gamma Beta IV. The orders stated we were to go there and gather intelligence on a possible splinter cell working to foment rebellion in the populace. "

"Rook, why do you think the missive is not from Admiral Rooks. He sent it on his secured line, he is the only one that could do that." It wasn't that he doubted she had some reason to think it was faked but he needed to know.

"It's addressed to Rook." Her eyes flickered from one screen to the next, she was pulling up satellite images of the planet now, trying to find a good angle on the main land mass.

He thought about that a minute. Ciani went by Rook because her father was Rooks, a thing she did to piss him off, or so he believed. On a personal line to his daughter it seemed unlikely he'd use the shortened version of the name to placate Ciani, she wasn't one to be placated. "So, either someone else sent the missive or he's in trouble."

"Yes, and we are heading to Gamma Beta IV." It was an order, not a request.

"Well I always was fond of honey traps. When do we leave?" He had fallen into an at-ease stance without thought, his hands tucked at the base of his spine, his feet a shoulders width apart, ready for orders. Battle was something he could handle easier than the waiting to see if Rook was going to mentally meltdown.

"Soon as you have the ship ready."

"Then get your ass up and at "em soldier, we're leaving now."

Historical Text: Jonathan Hawk Lt., Year 2341 Standard, First month, day 1. Alterra City.

In the city of Alterra there was a grand festival planned to start in just a few hours. One of the three suns was peeking up over the mountains and casting a pale light over the tall buildings and wide streets. This time of year always seemed dim to Hawk, not that the other two suns were more than pale reflections of the main star that lit the world, but it still felt wrong to him. He had grown up in the southern hemisphere on the island of Cort where the suns were visible all year round.

The city itself was decked out in its finest, banners flew from every building and garland decorated every street pole on every street. It was a celebration of the New Year, a tradition that was brought from Earth a millennium before and kept with a fierce desperation that often made Hawk wonder at the oddities of humans. The things that people clung to seemed trivial, but he knew better than to think that it would change any time soon.

Hawk was on the detail to protect the hovercraft that would be carrying the three technomancers scheduled to appear that day. He was on his way to meet them and he was beginning to suspect that skipping breakfast was a poor decision; there was nothing in his stomach to stop the acids from eating away at himself as he fought off a low level of anxiety. Typically he never appeared to be bothered by anything, having perfected the "flyboy' attitude the moment he took his first solo flight. There was something about technomancers that made his skin crawl, he hadn't put a finger to it yet but someday he would, probably would.

He had drawn the duty for this by picking the short straw in his company, none of the men wanted to go and pick up three technomancers at once. Hell it was bad enough when you were assigned detail duty to a single technomancer, but three" Still, he'd read the portfolios on the women he was going to pick up and they seemed a stable enough lot, as stable as any woman he'd met anyway.

The trip in the elevator to the top floor was a long one, one hundred and twelve stories to the floor that housed the technomancers. There was a young woman wrapped for warmth travelling up with him, she had forgotten something and needed to return to her room. Hawk could tell by the sidelong glances that she was checking him out and he gave her a winning smile. He was handsome and he knew it; with his dark hair tousled and framing his face, eyes as blue as the winter sky and a smile that showed off two dimples he usually had no trouble picking up women no matter where he went. In his military uniform he looked sharp, he had even taken the time to press the black pants and shine his shoes. With his six foot frame and charming personality, if he did say so himself, he rarely had issues finding himself a date.Forty floors of chitchat had earned him her name and number on a folded piece of paper that went into a pocket for later use.

The last sixty plus floors were travelled with only the hum of machinery to keep him company. The elevator opened directly into the room, a key card was required to reach the floor and there were few people stupid enough to try and surprise a technomancer.

The room was full of the frivolous things that Hawk imagined and more. The room opened up and was as big as three of his small apartment; one wall was filled with a flat screen television and was opposite a plush black couch that came up against an expanse of window that wrapped around the outside of the suite leaving the view open to the city below and the mountains beyond.

It only took a moment for the three women to appear, walking around from one of the other rooms. All three wore the same uniform, all with the same insignia on the shoulder and name tag across the right breast. The short green military jackets were pristine, the black pants freshly pressed and he could swear that he could see his reflection in their boots. He was happy that he took the time to at least pretend to clean himself up before heading out that morning. It appeared that whomever chose these three to represent the techno core wanted to appeal to the masses and picked three women from three different continents.

In order of appearance Hawk saw that Tailor held the dark features of a woman from the Northern Continent of Parma. The dark ringlets of hair fell to her shoulders, neatly trimmed and clipped back away from the round face that housed full lips and eyes as dark as midnight. She stood about the same height as Hawk and her build was what Hawk thought of as an hourglass. Gunner, on the other hand, was all of five feet nothing, waif thin and pale as marble. The long blonde hair was held back in a queue and reached down her back to her waist. Her eyes were of a greenish cast and there was something in her stare that chilled Hawk, he would not be hitting on that one even if it wasn't apparent that she came from the Isle of Tregmar. Tregmar was notoriously secular and he was surprised to find one so far from home.

The third was named Rooks and she was a looker. Coppery hair as straight as the woman's back fell to her shoulders, framing a face that was neither round nor pointed, with high cheek bones and eyes that drifted from grey to green to blue even as Hawk watched. About seven inches over five feet, her frame was slender and sleek, hinting at a inner strength. Of the three she appeared to be the oldest among them, Hawk would have guessed thirty and been a good nine years off.

"Oh good, they have sent us a fish, mouth gaping and gasping for air." Rooks heaved a dramatic sigh as she leaned against the window, giving Hawk a critical stare. Hawk felt like a dog in a window being sized up for a holiday dinner under that stare.

"What' Oh, sorry!" He snapped to attention and saluted the women. "Lt. Hawk reporting for duty!" He stared straight ahead and no one in particular, his feet together and his back straight, it seemed like his best option. Some women got touchy if they thought a man incorrectly identified the alpha in the group.

"We'll be getting no booze from this one I think, Rooks." The sound of Tailors voice was nothing like Hawk imagined, it was honey sweet and held a fair amount of humor.

"Booze" Oh ladies you can count on me to provide you with any supplies you need to get you through the day." That cocky grin that had earned him more black eyes in bars than he could count appeared as he looked at Brook. "I am your man. Use me as you see fit." He paused, allowed the grin to widen enough to show the dimples and added. "Please, use me."

The women all laughed. It was the good type of laughter though, not really at him, but rather from a place of releasing tension. Within the hour they were bantering like old friends and he was leading them down to the lobby where the rest of the detail was waiting and would escort them to the vehicle.

"How did you ladies wind up with the illustrious honor of being the New Years parade main event?" Hawk asked as he scanned the lobby for potential dangers, angling toward the cluster of armed men by the side exit.

"My husband decided that I should work some PR. Said that I have a face that people want to trust and that I looked mostly harmless." Rooks said as they moved through the lobby, the words holding a hint of sardonic humor.

"No offense, Rooks, but anyone with you more than five minutes would be able to tell you are no harmless woman." The aura of power that the women all gave off was palpable despite the fact that they were obviously trying to put him at ease.

"Good thing the car won't be moving slow enough for me to be near anyone in the crowd for more than a few seconds then, yes?? Rooks said with a laugh.

Hawk laughed with her and lead them out the side exit to the waiting car. He spent the day with them, and the night. They talked and flirted, in the end they gave him no more than a fond farewell kiss on the cheek. He had a holophoto taken with them to commemorate the day, he kept it in his wallet for a long time after the day had passed....long enough to be present when he'd be put on duty to protect Rooks daughter.