8

It was quiet, but an acceptable amount of quiet, the kind field service personnel wouldn't find off-putting. That was because, courtesy of the aeriform engine, Crusaders were relatively silent. It didn't matter how many of these suckers you lined up for a convoy, the overall noise level of the would remain around 60-65 decibels.

People with very little experience being around Crusaders often found this disturbing, that such large vehicles could produce so little sound. Whether or not some sort of apparatus should be implemented to intentionally make the Crusader engine louder remained a popular discussion topic at LCF council meetings.

And yet Lux, and a majority of field service personnel, preferred the silence of Crusaders. As ease of communication was imperative for the survival and success of understaffed crews. Hence the creation and application of prearranged callouts to better combat visits and approaches by raiding party's.

But the silence also made Lux feel like she was close to figuring IT out. She still wasn't sure what IT even was, but from time to time she'd catch her gaze wandering up from the horizon towards the sky where it would stay locked as an emotion akin to anticipation slowly overwhelmed her. Not in a way that distracted her though. In fact whenever this inclination arose during her vigilance, it felt like all of her senses suddenly sharpened or maybe widened. She'd discussed the feeling with a handful of trusted crew mates who'd called her out believing she was distracted. But when it became obvious she was on top of things they'd drop their complaints and chalk her suspicions up to the monotony of convoys.

Speaking of disagreeable crew mates, Cade was piloting. Something Lux had only ever seen on one other occasion. Wanting to take advantage of the opportunity she approached the front window from her rotational spot on the front deck. Naturally the bridge was designed to discourage attempts at blocking the windows, meaning Lux would have to work for it if she wanted to peer through and harass him.

Did she say harass? Lux would never harass Cade, this was more like teasing or subtle flirting between close friends. After all, if he really was piloting in there he must be unhappy about it. Might as well lift the man's spirits before rotating.

Lux began her impromptu endeavor by going around to the side of bridge, escaping Cade's immediate field of vision, and in a show of athleticism and maneuverability used the railing as a launch point with her plant foot, and grabbed the top of the bridge with both hands. Taking care to hoist herself up without making any obvious noises, Lux effortlessly lifted herself up onto the very top of the Crusader.

Glancing around she saw that aside from her the only other thing above the bridge was the antenna for sending and receiving transmissions. Making a mental note of its position, in case shit really went south when she was up here, Lux shifted her attention to the rest of the convoy. Without thinking she found herself assessing the current positions of all the other Crusader's security personnel and with the exception of the dumb ass crouching on the roof of bridge, she was happy to report that everyone was in position.

As she began bear crawling her way back towards the front of the bridge, Lux felt a gaze coming from the strong side of the convoy. Turning towards its source she made eye contact with another security officer aboard the adjacent Crusader. Sensing his internal debate over whether to report her antics, Lux gave the universal "zip it" motion and stared a few daggers for good measure. When this didn't seem to register as a convincing argument Lux resorted to pulling rank by yanking the sharpshooting qualification from her belt and gesturing towards it.

The idea being that crawling across the top the bridge was actually a strategic move to gain a better sharpshooting position. To emphasize her hastily put together ruse she gestured toward the rifle on her back with her thumb. Not wanting to make something out of nothing or draw unnecessary attention the officer decided to humor her explantation, offering a thumbs up before he resumed his watch duty.

Lux resumed her efforts double time realizing Cade will have noticed her prolonged absence from the front deck and begin forming theories. Alas, he turned out to be quicker on the uptake than her today. Just before she could lower her head down to peer through the front window several bangs reverberated from under her left leg.

"Lux! Get your ass in the bridge! Head Comms wants to have a word with you!"

Lux made sure reach down just far enough that she could give Cade the finger before retracing her crawls and dropping down onto the back deck instead of the front. Landing just in front of Esma who had been making her way back towards the bridge after Flannery's transmission. Poor girl fell backwards and hit the deck butt first, more startled than anything.

"Look alive Esma, the current position of the sun should have given my shadow away for a moment or two."

Reaching down Lux pulled Esma up with one hand while using the other to grab the additional headset from around her neck. Hopping over the ladder way, she strode into the bridge fiddling with the headset as she got it into a comfortable position on her head.

"Stop sowing chaos aboard my Crusader woman." Cade said as he removed the headset he'd been wearing and gestured for Esma to come collect it.

"Only if you stop ruining all my fun man." Lux responded as she got comfortable over by the communication equipment.

Retrieving the headset from Cade, Esma lightly rubbed the spot on her rear that had taken the brunt of the fall.

"I know I told you to see how the other divisions conducted themselves during convoys, but go ahead and disregard blatant rule violations based on misplaced sympathy."

"I don't think I'd be bold or skilled enough to replicate the violations Lux has just proved capable of."

"Both those things are subject to change, give it time!" Lux called out from the corner of the bridge.

"Actually I think my first objective will be staying on my feet for the duration of a convoy. My footing wasn't sure enough to even attempt crossing the platforms."

"Baby steps."

"Literally."