There was simply too much hype inside this ship. Now that Canaan didn't have Annie inside his head to divert his attention elsewhere, he could finally see just how much work the entire crew (him included) had to do to keep the Elyandra functional. The ship itself had seen better days, even gone to hell and back a few times, but this is by far, the worst one yet. A group of mechanics and engineers suddenly came from the hall to his right, shoving him out of the way rather forcefully. Having been knocked aside into the wall, Canaan glared at the group waiting for an apology but nobody even gave him a second thought; they just continued on their way to the direction of the ship's hull, probably for priority repairs.<br/><br/>"Hmm, did we get hit that bad?" Canaan wondered out loud, catching the attention of some ship mechanics trailing the first group. One of them stopped and walked up to him, crossing both arms on top of his chest.<br/><br/>"You don't know how badly damaged the Elyandra was after that fiasco?" he suddenly asked, slightly irritated. "Where were you son? Hiding in your bunk when the fighting started?"<br/><br/>The hint of disdain in the mechanic caught Canaan's attention. He turned to the side slowly to face him, glancing at the man from head to toe, duly noting the insignia of Chief Ship Mechanic on the man's right shoulder before leveling his stare on him. "On the contrary Chief, as much as I would have loved to stay in my bunk, I was out there risking my ass to help keep this ship in one piece." Canaan responded, letting the man see his pilot insignia.<br/><br/>"Hmph! You certainly did a swell job. Look at us now! We can hardly move this ship without her falling apart on us!" he grumbled, fiery tone still evident in his words. "Do you have any idea how much man hours we have to work to get this ship back to full functionality?" now he was shaking his head sideways in defeat. "If only you flyboys would do a much better job of protecting your<span style="font-style: italic">only</span>base ship, we wouldn't have to over-exhaust our manpower."<br/><br/>Canaan sighed. Their responsibilities may have been different, but the strain on both sides remained the same. They were, after all, still in one boat. The Chief Ship Mechanic may be having some difficulties allocating his men to keep up with the demands of their job, much less meeting the short deadline of getting the ship fixed asap; it was no question why he was upset and grumpy. However, it wouldn't be fair for any of the pilots to just take the blame for Elyandra's current condition. None of them saw this coming, and none of them obviously wanted this to happen. Out there, whether it was to protect a ship, or to destroy a target, pilots are almost always the first ones to die. In Canaan's opinion, they all deserved a little respect.<br/><br/>"Instead of worrying about man hours and over-exhaustion, take the time to stop and think for a moment. Why do you think you're still breathing Chief?" Canaan questioned the man, his own anger mingled in his voice. "In case you haven't been informed, we just lost one of our own out there—he's the reason why we're all still here." the reminder of their lost pilot made Canaan feel a hint of sadness. They may not have been friends, but they were still comrades-in-arms. Dren was a skilled pilot. He didn't deserve any disrespect. "For your sake Chief, I would stop blaming the pilots and accusing them of incompetence. We don't ask your bunch for anything when we die out there," Canaan stepped closer to the man, meeting his fiery gaze with his own. "so don't give us crap about not doing a better job."<br/><br/>"Hey fuck off flyboy! You have no right disrespecting our Chief like that!" one of the Chief's men started to back him up. "We bust our asses just as much as you flyboys do so don't get cocky on us!" he said and grabbed a monkey wrench, ready to hit Canaan with it.<br/><br/>"You don't want to go there." Canaan warned the man.<br/><br/>"Oh yeah? Watch me!" he swore and swung the wrench at Canaan.<br/><br/>Instinctively, Canaan raised his cybernetic arm to block the blow. Just when he was about to hit back, a woman's voice caught their attention. When Canaan looked to the side, a nurse stood there watching them with cold eyes. The mechanics seem to have understood what it meant and almost amazingly went on their way like nothing happened. A baffled Canaan stood in awe, a hand coming on top of his cybernetic arm that didn't really hurt.<br/><br/>"You." the nurse called out to him. "Follow me to sickbay. That arm of yours needs to be looked at."<br/><br/>"Uhh.. no it's fine really. That was nothing." he protested but got the same cold stare from the nurse.<br/><br/>"Nobody walks away fine after getting hit with a monkey wrench. I insist pilot. We can't have any more of you dying out there just because he can't maneuver properly because of an injury." she turned away from Canaan, walking in a determined, yet purposeful stride. Canaan had no choice but to comply.<br/><br/>The two made their way around the ship headed towards sickbay. Along the way, a lot of the ship's crew were lined outside waiting for treatment. This wasn't something new to Canaan but that doesn't mean he's gotten used to seeing such a scenario. They really took a beating from the Children bastards this time. There wasn't much change inside the sickbay. Those heavily injured during the earlier fight were either receiving treatment, or getting themselves stabilized. Canaan had to wriggle his way around to keep up with the nurse that asked him to come.<br/><br/>"As you can see, we're understaffed. There isn't much room to move around so feel free to stand there while I take a look at your arm." she said while expertly picking up stuff to treat his non-existent injury.<br/><br/>"I uhh, don't think this is really necessary. I'm fine miss, real--"<br/><br/>"Take off that glove and pull up your sleeve." the nurse suddenly cut him off. Canaan hesitated, not really wanting to show the nurse his arm. "Get a move on pilot. I don't have all day."<br/><br/>With a sigh, Canaan finally pulled off the glove, revealing his robotic hand to the nurse who was in turn, a bit shocked. "You see now? It's cybernetic, and I'm not fond of showing this to other people. It goes up to here," he said tracing the entire length of his robotic arm. "and it's made using special alloys that can most definitely, withstand a blow from a monkey wrench. Not even a regular chainsaw can cut this." he informed her while putting the glove back on. "Sorry to have wasted your time miss. I tried to tell you but you were just..." he paused, deciding not to finish the thought. "I appreciate the concern though."<br/><br/>Having realized her blunder, the nurse fell at a loss for words. Not only did she waste his and her time by being forceful, she also made him show her something he was obviously too sensitive about.<br/><br/>"Don't worry about it. You're just doing your job." Canaan tried his hand at assuring the nurse that everything was fine. "If you'll excuse me, I have to report to the Captain. I have a D.A. to sort out."<br/><br/>"B-But of course. You're... free to go." she struggled for words.<br/><br/>Canaan smiled at her politely before turning the other way. Cybernetic treatment isn't something new, but was considered unorthodox. The military is probably the only ones who value such treatment procedures cost-wise. Issues about such treatment would be genetic compatibility. Not many people adapt well to having a machine become a part of their body, and when given a choice, even fewer people accept such treatment. In Canaan's case, he didn't ask for this. The nurse was probably used to seeing someone like him but she might have felt bad for having to force him to show her his mech side. They all knew the emotional impact of having to go through the works. Still, it wasn't her fault. Canaan wouldn't blame her. Just when he was about to exit the sickbay, Canaan heard the nurse calling him.<br/><br/>"Pilot!" she yelled. "I didn't catch your name."<br/><br/>Canaan smirked and turned his head to the side, catching a glimpse of the nurse. "The name's Canaan, Canaan Frost."