5-
Glancing at her chronowatch strapped to her wrist Raine rose from her sitting position, out of habit checking the figures nearest her for weapons. Finding nothing to worry her she laid a few credits down on the table for her food before exiting the small pub that she'd eaten in.
She had arrived in New Mecca early in the morning, making sure she had all her gear ready. So far so good, now it was off to meet her team. Raine was particularly interested in seeing how Toombs taste was in mercenaries, she hoped for all their sakes that they were good. Stories of Riddick's exploits ran rapid, apparently he was good. Very good.
Shouldering her way through the crowded streets Raine shifted her heavy black bag from one shoulder to the other, her free hand pushing away the lock of stray hair that pushed itself into her eyes.
In several minutes she had reached the main docks for New Mecca landings, several hover-ships and various space-crafts coming in and out. Turning, Raine scanned the nearby docked ships, searching for one that would be commonly used among mercs, fast light and serviceable, that was usually the prototype.
She didn't have far to look, only a few dozen yards from where she stood was a sleek D30, a nice model, beside it was the weathered figure of Toombs, his ragged face turned away from her, talking to a woman opposite him.
Absently wondering where Toombs had jacked the ship, she was a beauty after all, Raine once more checked the people around her. Regarding passerby's with casual suspicion. Raine was always suspicious. After another moment she picked up her pace, walking quietly towards the D30.
The woman beside Toombs spotted her and with a word to her employer the two turned to meet the small, dark clad figure that moved unobtrusively towards them.
As she saw Toombs face full on flashes of vivid memory met her brain. Raine frowned despite herself, she'd thought she moved beyond this yet the re-collation of her past affiliation with Toombs was still painful, or at least, angering. Getting ahold of her ill-timed emotions Raine stopped a few feet from the pair of mercs.
"Toombs?" She asked quietly, trying not to show her previous upset.
The man nodded, examining her scrutinizingly head to toes. Raine knew he was looking for weakness, for some crack that would put her off the team. A small smile lit it's way inwardly, he wouldn't find anything wrong with her skills as a merc, she was quite sure of that.
"You showed, thought you weren't going to make it. Kind of young aren't you?"
Stiffening Raine kept a frown from crossing her face. She didn't appreciate the man noting her age, after all what did it matter as long as you were competent. He'd been willing to take her own two years ago. Deciding to ignore his last statement she answered,
"Let's do this. Your team's ready?"
"Yeah, your the last of them. Just getting ready to take off."
With a brief nod Raine pushed past the two, climbing up the gangplank into the low-lit interior of the ship. Removing her glasses to get a better view, the girl set her bag against the side of the wall along with an abundance of other gear. Toombs and the other woman followed her into the ship.
While she was still looking around the woman stepped forward to stand beside her.
"Nice shades." She commented with a smile at Raine's glasses. Raine glanced at her briefly, she was tall and heavily muscled, several knives were placed over the surface of her body, obviously she knew what she was about.
"Custom." She answered with a smile of her own.
"I'm Luna," The woman said, "But call me blade, everyone else does."
"Raine, and is there a reason for the nickname." Raine laughed as she said this, her hoarse voice making her chuckle sound more like fingernails scraping down a chalkboard than anything else.
Blade answered with a laugh of her own, decidedly more melodious than Raine's.
"Actually yes, kind of attached to that sort of weapon, but here, come on I'll show you the rest of the crew."
Walking forward to the pilot's cabin Raine reflected that Toombs hadn't done a bad job of choosing his crew, not with specimens like herself and Blade.
Stooping to enter the hull she blinked as a bright light met her eyes, quickly she thrust her shades back on, her eyes still smarting from the impact of the brightness.
"Marek, Dill, look sharp. Here's our last team member, the one we've flown all the way to New Mecca to pick up." This came from Blade who was cuffing a dark headed younger looking fellow on the side of the head. The two pilots swiveled in their chairs, regarding Raine with much the same scrutiny as Toombs.
The first one, Marek, was very dark-coloured, black hair, black eyes, dark complexion, he was thin but wiry and was now taking a friendly swipe back at Blade. The second, Dill, was shorter and very stocky with a barrel like chest and broad bony face over which a shock of blonde hair stood wildly.
"This here's my kid brother, Marek." Blade introduced with a grin to Raine. Examing the two more closely Raine immediately saw the sibling likeness between the two, their body structure was much the same, tall and strong. "He's the pilot of this beauty. And then the copilot, Dill Lymens. This son of a bitch would steal his mother's teeth if it'd earn him a penny."
Raine nodded to the two of them, feeling curious despite herself, she wanted to see how Toombs new team would hold up in action.
"Kind of young aren't you?" Was the immediate question fro Lymens who was grinning candidly at her. Raine didn't like the look any more than the question which was all to familiar.
"Does age really matter?" She asked quietly, trying to hold the note of sarcasm back from her voice. "Just as long as I can kill you before you've blinked it shouldn't." She added, a tone of finality to her voice.
From behind her she heard Toombs heavy footsteps, a second later his rough voice shouted. "Marek, Lymens. Are we getting this beast off planet or what? Let's move!"