Anger flared in Melina the instant she heard the contemptive words of "Mercs" and "Alliance-born Mercs". A sudden anger could be felt at the hatred of the words spoken. It radiated from the young woman in waves.<i>Contempt for me, from these mindless, thick-skulled dimwits?</i>Her hands flexed, but she restrained herself, keeping her arms folded under her breasts. The stare she gave the two men could have cracked ice it was so cold. It was the same frozen glare she gave anyone who disrespected her for her profession; the same one she'd scared that idiot on Mars off with. Once more her hands flexed, but her arms stayed folded over her chest, much as she wished to show these two no-brained lackwits some manners.<br/><br/>After they left, her cold gaze drilling in to their backs until they were out of sight - she made sure they could feel her looking at them - Melina looked over to her ship. A smile crossed her face as she approached the Raptor she'd yet to name. Her hand ran across it, a triumphant look on her face. She loved this ship, and well she should for how much it had cost her. After a quick once-over to make sure everything was fine and that those two ship fondlers hadn't stolen anything, Melina turned to gaze over at her true baby. Shadow's Bloom sat there, small and sleek, very little armour and weaponry, but it was fast. What it lacked in combat technology, it more than made up for in stealth and speed technology. With the glee of a small child at Christmas upon sighting all those presents under the tree, Melina ran to her Scout, opening the cockpit and jumping swiftly in. The first thing she did was give the ship a once-over like she had with her Raptor; neither Imperials or Alliance soldiers could be trusted when it came to something big and shiny. They'd jump on it the moment they saw it. And so for this reason Melina pressed a small button under her seat, opening a small compartment. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw they were still there. The precious bits and pieces she'd collected over her years as a Mercenary. Among them were many things: computer spikes, AI spikes, bugs and blank login signatures to name a few. All the items she needed to crack a security mainframe or send an AI crashing to its knees, useless. A small, almost invisible smile crossed Melina's face as she picked at least one of every item there up, placing them in another hidden pocket within her suit, then closing the compartment.<br/><br/>Try as she might, she couldn't get that man out of her head. He'd stared at her, trying to muster some kind of hatred, but had failed. That wasn't what concerned Melina, though. What concerned her was how he'd seen right through her. He'd gazed at her and used her eyes as a window to  her very soul; stared right down deep in to her darkest secrets. Somehow he'd seen right through her exterior to what lay inside; a young, tender girl, hidden away and smothered in the mind of a Mercenary and street urchin. She had no idea how he'd managed it, but for the first time in a long while, Melina admitted something to herself.<br/><br/><i>I'm scared.</i>Of what? Of everything. Of the people she'd killed, all those urchins she'd hurt when they tried to hurt her, what the future held for her, what lay in these uncharted areas of space, and most of all; death. Melina had an irrational fear deep down inside her, awakened once more by that man's penetrating gaze, that all the people she'd hurt; all the lives she'd taken, would come back when she died to haunt her for eternity. And so she was afraid. Of many things, but that most of all. A childish fear; a fear that made her vulnerable and that she'd thought she'd dispatched long ago. Deep down inside, Melina knew she was no more than a child surrounded by a shell of arrogance, spite and icy tempers.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>