A man was staring out the front of his brand new spaceship, a small barge of a ship, with only a few cots for sleeping, and no large computer. It was the cheapest he could buy. But this ship was his pride and joy. It was the first for the IEA, or the Intergalactic Exploration Agency. As he turned on the autopilot feature, a voice came over the the radio.

"Captain Yales, you are needed in the interview room. It seems there are three people currently waiting to speak with you, seeking employment. Shall I inform them of your coming?"

The man leaned back in his chair. "Yeah, go ahead."

He stood up, grabbed his laser pistol, and walked towards the bridge, where the interview room was. He needed manpower. As he opened the door, he saw three men, just as promised. On was most definitely human, he could spot a normal human from a mile away. The other two were human in appearance, but the eyes gave it away. They were androids.

Yales himself was a human, a "Covered One" from The Harshlands. He sat down in the chair across his table from them.

"So, who wants to go first?"

"Sir", he stood up and extended a hand robotically, "SDM Model HE-S28956 Delta reporting. It is my pleasure to serve under you as your first assignment, I belive you are the captain who sent in the order for the Combat Android to my makers at SDM. I am here, as promised, free of charge. My user manuel can be loaded into any Nava-Computer or Electro Human Interface. I am at your service."

He finally sat down. All the while he had been shaking the Captains hand. This was his new owner, the rightful master of him. He was now under the Captains command.

He looked over at the other two, one other Android. He tried initiating a scan, but he sensed this Android was yet another military grade piece of equipment, and his scan was blocked.

The other human looked most intruiging.

He could already tell, by the manner in wich the Captain had entered, presented himself, and clothed himself, he was a native of the Harshlands. A human refered to as a "covered one". Most intruiging...

"From now on, you are just Delta. Not that big strain of numbers. My name is Captain Yales. This ship doesn't have a name yet, other than home. This is our current base of operations, everything. There is also a sparring room and a weapons range to keep your skills sharpened." He looked at the second android and the human.

"Care to introduce yourselves? We're going to be together quite a while."

Thoreras looked at the captain with intrest as he entered the room. He was about to introduce himself when the other andriod cut him off. Then his scanners told him that the lower grade battle droid was trying to scan him; thinking him rude Thoreras blocked the scan. After the Droid was done introducing it's self Thoreras waited for the human to introduce himself; seeing that he wasn't going to Thoreras saluted the captain.
"My name is Thoreras, you have probably heard of my battle career from Captain Ruphus of the Hellwing. I hope he has properly introduced me as a fine member of his crew and a loyal bodygaurd." Thoreras says. "It will be a pleasure to serve with one of the most feared captains in all the galaxy."

Yales eyed thoreras. Feared captain...he bought this ship last week...

"I don't want you guys to be under the wrong impressions. I bought this last week. You are the first people I've hired on. Our missions here are simple: follow the money. We'll rang from cartographers, to pirates, to bounty hunters, to anything that will pay us. There's nothing glamorous about it. We're gonna get shot at, stabbed, possibly killed. But damn, if the money ain't good."

He patted Thoreras on the shoulder. "I didn't check with your old captain. I asked for you, not his advice."

He walked to the human, and sat directly across from him.

"And you?"

The captain walked up and asked him his name.

He shifted uncomfortably in his chair, not used to this kind of thing. He pulled back his hood revealing a young face with silver hair and a scar on the right side of his face running from his forehead to his jaw, though his eye was intact. It was an old scar, with old memories, which flashed back to him. He shook them away and began to speak.

"My name is Lokar, Harper Lokar, captain. I look forward to working with you. I'm from the Juneaux Settlement on Guhgor, and I was trained as a soldier before I took up the workings of science as a hobby. I'm primarily a scientist these days, but I can hold my own, should things turn nasty," he picked up a sheathed short sword and laid it on the table, "Me and Lucille here."

He also placed a pistol on the table.

"As you can see, I'm well armed and ready to get under way, sir. Whatever you need, you can count on me."

"Now I shall introduce myself. I am Captain Yales, from the Harshlands, which I'm sure you've already realized by my nice wrappings. I'm a boxer and a wanderer. The ship you're on is currently the only ship in possession of the IEA. I only have one rule: drinking and driving is strictly prohibited."

Yales stood up and walked towards the door. As it opened, he spoke. "Follow me. I want to see what you guys can do."

He proceeded to lead them to the training centers.

As they entered the first chamber, he pushed a button. A generic body shaped man appeared before each. "This is how we train in close combat. These holograms are solid. They can hurt you. But before any true pain is inflicted, they shut off. I want to see what you guys can do in close combat."

Thoreras looked at the hologram with interest he had seen many holograms in his life. He reached out and arm locked the hologram; which turned it's legs backward and flipped back behind Thoreras's head. Thoreras was amazed at the speed of the thing.
Before Thoreras could fully contemplate the situation though he was quickly engaged in hand to hand combat. Thoreras decided to go into his combat mode and his fist's turned into a hard steel.
Thoreras punched in the gut a couple times the hologram and knocked it hard in the jaw. Finally Thoreras pulled a smoke grenade out of a compartment in his left shoulder. Knowing that the Program wouldn't know the difference, grabbed the hologram by the arm and twisted until the arm came off. The hologram screamed in pain as Thoreras pulled the pin and stuck the smoke grenade in it's mouth ending the simulation and releasing smoke into the air.
Thoreras returned to his human form.
"Sorry Captain I will get rid of that immediately." Thoreras said and grabbed the grenade and sent it out the garbage shoot.

Yales laughed heartily. "I like your style. But let me show you something, if I may."

His own hologram stood in front of him. It lunged with ferocious speed, speed that would throw most men off balance in a heartbeat. But Yales had been engaged in one on one fights his whole life. He caught the arm and threw the hologram across the room, using it's own momentum. Yales then ducked under the next roundhouse kick, using his own downward motion to elbow the things bent knee cap. It fell hard, and Yales punched it square against his throat. It let loose a gurgle, and then a scream as Yales lifted him to his feet, threw an arm behind it's back, and jerked upwards with enough force to lift it from the ground. He felt bone disconnect from joint, and he threw it forward, sending it sprawling to the ground. He then stomped the back of it's head, and the image flickered away.

"Try to rely less on weapons and gadgets. There is a very good chance that, later in a mission, you will be out of grenades, ammo, and your blades may start to dull. I can't force you to do so, but I can help tone your bodies into weapons of their own."

"Although it is not in my original programming to conduct hand to hand combat, I have been recently downloading the martial arts into my data banks, and believe I can perform admirably."

He was impressed by the agility of the other android and commended the captian for his skills in combat at close quarters, he only hoped he could do as well.

He glared at his hologram, and it stared back hostily. He lunger, and managed to catch it by the wrist, using its own momentum against it and throwing it over its head, toppling it to the floor. The hologram sweeped through with a kick, but Delta managed to jump just in time, anding his left foot on the holograms jaw.

The program grapsed his leg and flipped him over, and Delta's stabilizers could not keep him balanced. He fell down and the hologram was on top of him. It threw a punch, which Delta narrowly doged before grabbing its neck and twisting it. The hologram dissapeared.

He had not done near as well as the others, but his programming was for long range combat, and he knew the others were not as a sharp a shot as he was.

Yales laughed. "Don't worry. Some people are made for close quarters, some are marksmen, others are scientists or tradesmen. Everyone has a place on this crew."


He looked at the other Human. "Well, let me see what you can do, my friend."

Thoreras seemed to take to heart that his captain wasn't as impresed as he had hoped he would be. He looked at the human that apparently was looking dumb founded at the idea of fighting like as if he had never heard of the idea before, then turned to his new captain, "Captain if I may have another try but this time with the hologram that looks like you?"

Yales waved at him.

"Sure, have at it." He moved towards the wall and flipped the switch, activating the hologram machine once again. A mirror image of himself flickered into being, standing with the same calm and collected stance. As Yales leaned on the wall to watch, the communications device of the ship went off. "Hello?" Yales answered with fervence. "This is Captain Yales. How can I be of assistance?" Incoherent screaming was heard on the other line. The only words he could pick up were "Harshlands...Urek City...only one left...hurry." Captain Yales looked up.

"Get ready. You can finish killing the mirror me on the way there if you want. Just be sure to be suited up and ready to go when we get there."

Yales ran out and towards the control room. It was time to push the ship.