"Yo, Porter!"

Bishop turned in the direction of the whistle that followed as the door to the prep room glided shut behind him. If anything, he was sure to recognize Meghan's voice anytime. Oh no, not Meghan. The dude had gained reputation for his superhuman ability to talk people to death, something no other human was capable of doing, or at least not as easily as Meghan would.

"Hi Ramon," Bishop started with a cheerful smile. His palms locked into Ramon's larger one in a firm grip.

"Errand boy," Ramon teased, hitting him a bit too hard on his shoulder.

"Now don't tell me we got Meghan on this too," Bishop said, holding on to the spot Ramon had hit him. "Is this Tri Tech's definition of mass murder?"

The look on Meghan's face changed in response to that remark as the other crewmates burst into a fit of laughter.

"Whatever you want man. You should be glad to have a Grade 9 Tech Guard on this trip with you. Trained at the prestigious Raven Magnum Academy by the finest Tech specialists of our time and a 4 time national award winner for-"

"Here we go again, someone please pull the plug on this guy," Ramon said, palming his face.

The door slid open and a female Guardian dressed in a complete Guardian Gear stepped through, followed closely by another female Guardian and Doc.

"Are you ladies done playing dress up?" Joleen-Vinita Balcomb asked the other Guardians in her authoritative voice before turning to the timid Porter. "You ready for this, boy?"

Bishop smiled then gave an affirmative answer. Tripping with the Joleen's Lumber Jacs crew made him comfortable especially with Joleen as crew leader-a reputable Grade 12 SpecOp Guard and one of the finest of her rank. At least there was someone to keep Meghan's talking in check.

"And we got a new mate on the job with us, Kindra Salis." Joleen gestured at the new female Guardian. "Bob still isn't recovered so we're having her as substitute. Show some love."

"Final results show your systems are a hundred," Doc. Said. "Stay safe, and keep this idiot safer."

Bishop gave a cursory look at his companions feeling embarrassed, knowing fully well who the idiot was-Bishop. There was smile carved on Meghan's face and it was obvious how hard he was trying to stifle back a laughter.

"Gear up, it's time to get our asses out of Capital" Joleen said before turning to leave.

"Wha' terminal we meeting up?" Ramon asked.

"We'd be using the Astro Ark," she replied before the door slid close.

The news triggered excitement instantly. Of course, no one needed directions to what terminal the much talked about Astro Ark had been sitting for a while, Tri Tech's newest import.

"Jellybean coats are the best for airships, they make ripping difficult and I also heard its sensors are out of this world, baby we're talking next world tech here." Meghan continued talking, he'd been talking all the time right from the moment Jo' had broken the news about the Astro Ark. The four bags he'd been struggling to carry didn't seem to slow down the rate at which he talked.

"We sure shoulda added one more luggage to y'mouth," Ramon said, letting out the words he had been trying to hold back for the past few minutes.

"This is it ladies, one more for the road," Jo' announced as the came to halt in front of the mighty black metallic bird, the much talked about Astro Ark. "Any last words before we leave?"

Meghan's hand sprang in the air. Jo' gave a brief look at other members of the crew. "Anyone else?" She asked, looking past Meghan's hand which was now swinging in the air. No reply. "Alright then, let's get this baby rolling."

"I'm taking the pilot cabin," Meghan blurted out, realizing that Jo' had just ignored him on purpose.

"See? Tri Tech's trying to get us all killed," Bishop said, stepping through the entrance of the airship.

"Holy tech!" Meghan exclaimed as he stepped into the ship. The passage which led to the main deck was dimly lit and only wide enough to accommodate two persons at a time. The smell of never-used synthesized leather hung in the air. ""AA-519: Strong, fast, rebellious. This is-"

"One more word Meghan, and you'd be getting preserved for Synthesis." Jo's audacious voice was enough to cut Meghan short with her eyes, piercing through his in a stern look. The rest of the crew chuckled at the expression he wore.

The buzzing sound of the door as it closed shut got everyone's attention. A hiss followed afterwards and the interior lighting turned a bight sky blue color. There was that moment of realization which often came before every job, that dawning that they were actually leaving the refuge of Capital city. The door of the hanger split in two as Meghan and Joleen powered up the Ark.

"We don't even get to fly this thing," Megan muttered, catching Kindra's eye as she joined them in the control center. "It flies on its own," he whispered to her. She simply gave a look that showed her acknowledgement of his craze.

The Astro Ark (AA-519) ascended into the sky until it was well above Tri Tech's massive complex. Bishop watched the roof close up back together. An unusual sensation lingered within his body, one birthed from the thought of the task ahead and it made his heart beat slowdown in nervousness again. He pushed down the bile in his throat and heaved as the Ark carried on into the open sky, Capital city gradually faded from site.

"I'd be in my cabin if anything comes up. Bathfog Ruins isn't a day's journey so you ladies just might want to unload and pitch tent," Jo said, she picked up her bag and kit from the floor and made for her room after she'd made sure the airship was running properly.

The Astro Ark skulked the sky for hours which appeared like infinity. Bathfog Ruins seemed like another world on its own considering how long it took to get there. Venturing that far away from Phase II rarely happened and so for the job to have been assigned to Bishop meant it really was 'the real shit' just like ITX had put it.

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