Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Jace, but you knew that," the Panzermagus replied, a field of his mana in the shape of a hand extending outward to return the greeting. "You'll excuse the lack of contact. I like to keep clean. Thus the Panzermagie. He smiled. "I've been on the Dominator since it first launched, so I had a pretty good idea what was happening. Cap was sick of a few of the less, er, useful of our soldiers, knew they'd get killed if he set this up. At least, that's what I think."

"It's learned. It's just a set of skills. How would I explain it...." Jace put his arms down on the table; Victor could see a small layer of magic separating him from actual contact with it. "I... huh. It's like... yeah, I don't know how to describe it. It's just learning how to do different varieties of shielding magic, then doing them all at once. It doesn't gain its own unique, well, anything. Not until you get to the very high-level stuff - the Unstoppable Force and the like."

Anolani sighed, but whisked all the water off of her body. Her dress was still a mess, but hey, she was dry. She looked at Rose from the corner of her eye and did the same for her. "I doubt you want to stay wet, dearie. Or do you? I don't mind dropping the water back on you."

For a little while, Rose simply stared blankly at the pens. Elite crew? No... no, that was wrong. She was an escort; she had been chosen as a top performer among her peers, but she wasn't like these people. Moving mechanically, her face somewhat paler than it had been amidst actual, life-threatening combat, she fit her greaves and gauntlets back into her purse and quietly put on her shoes, shaking herself briefly as Anolani removed the water.

At the demoness's words, she blinked a few times, looking into the older woman's eyes. "Back on me?" she mouthed dazedly, and looked around her feet at the water, then back up, confused by the joke in Anolani's eyes. "N-no. Thank you. I think... there's been some sort of mistake." Attempting to remain calm at this level of either compliment or games-playing, especially while there was still uncertainty as to which it was, was not something that came easily to any sixteen-year-old girl, she sat down next to Anolani, leaned over, and whispered a little desperately, "I'm not supposed to be here. He-" she indicated a body on the floor- "invited me here as an escort. I didn't even do anything useful in the fight, I just-" She cut off, her excitement only bolstered by the strength of the smells rolling off Meridias and Machillius. She lowered her voice yet further, trying not to let her shame show through. "I just sat there. The whole time. If I get put on that ship, I'm going to get people killed." Her eyes were begging Anolani to fix it, to, as Rose's superior, inform Meridias of the problem so that it could be resolved.

"You're supposed to be here," Morgan said to Rose with a lopsided smile and an appreciative nod at Anolani in deference to her role in the fight. "You survived. In a fight against an enemy you were rather unsuited to combat, too. That's more than a few people in here can say. So cheer up, have a drink." He sat on a bar stool. "So give yourself a li'l cred." He gave a loose pseudo-salute to Captain Machillius as he turned to him. "El Capitan. I'll take whatever has the highest proof."

The captain smiled. "You would." He flicked his hand at the wall and a bottle spun into the air, uncorked itself, and began pouring itself in a glass in front of Morgan. "As for terms of your employment... you obey my orders, and we kick a** for the Cabal, basically. Word is that we might actually be on a mission intro Crossover soon. Something about a Hiveling Queen establishing a new hive." He grinned. The question about the drinks had gone unanswered.

Machillius frowned at him. "They're highly volatile. You probably shouldn't handle them."

Victor scoffed. Seeing - well, hearing - Johnstone's disappointment was a cherry on top of the victory they had just earned.

"When do we leave, Cap'n?" he asked casually, his posture in the chair indicating exactly what he thought of the Captain's authority. "I'm ready to go if they are."

The bottle poured its contents into a glass for Anolani. Captain Machillius grinned at her. It was the sort of grin that said I could rape you were I so inclined, which he was legally entitled to do were he to defeat her in a fight. Such was life in the Cabal. "That might be good, yes. Conjuration isn't really my thing, so I'll leave that to you."