<div class="floatleft">(http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/wulfjaeger/___protector_of_time____by_vincentxyooj-d5lw1gq_zps59496fa9.png)</div><br/>Allia knew that Kari would be glad to hear that Emily had decided to stay.  She wasn't quite sure what the concern over Damian was all about, but in her short time in the unit Damian may have been odd, but he had never been mean.  As she was exiting the hangar bay the lead technician was coming out of the crew elevator.<strong>"Lieutenant Rowe, I need your help."</strong>He said walking towards her, the half scowl on his face a bad omen as far as Allia was concerned.  "Sure chief, what's up?"  Chief Petty Officer Perkins had been one of the lead technicians on the Dark Star for as long as Allia had been and probably as long as Damian had been with the unit.  He knew almost every type of mech and how to keep it running, an expertise they needed badly at this moment.<br/><br/><strong>"Gheistwulf is giving us some issues I hoped you might be able to help us sort out."</strong>He was walking back through the hangar towards her mech.  She knew she'd taken some serious damage from the Frogs before she returned to the dropship, but maybe the damage was worse than she had thought.<strong>"We're having trouble with a few of the key gyro actuator systems and the neural interface, and I was hoping we might be able to get a bit more done in active mode and not maintenance mode.  I need to to link in and bring the system up for me."</strong><br/><br/>The fact that Chief Perkins was stumped by a failure in the system surprised Allia; however, she knew that the Stealth was a fairly rare mech to find in the field, so his expertise may not be as deep with these deeper systems.  The two of them climbed up the gantry towards Gheistwulf's hatch.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Stretching her back as she pulled herself from Gheistwulf's hatch, Allia groaned.  She looked at the large digital clock on the back of the hangar bay, causing her to groan more when she realized how long they'd been working on the problem. Chief Perkins was a veritable wizard, but he was right, the active link was necessary to track the system malfunction.  On the bright side, Gheistwulf would be fully functional when they reached Galatea.<br/><br/>Walking along the gangway, Allia realized if Emily hadn't already gone to speak with Kari, that any news could wait.  She needed to stretch and let off some steam.  The last couple of days had taken a huge toll on her emotionally and physically, and she needed something to work off steam.<br/><br/>After changing into a tight pink sports bra and a pair of black hip shorts (http://www.etonline.com/media/photo/2014/12/24121722/425_stacy_keibler_1222214.jpg), Allia walked out of the locker room into the ships small gym.  She found it rather odd that it was completely empty until she realized how decimated the crew was.  Everyone who should have been up here working out was either dead, or too busy trying to fix the damage that there wasn't anyone left to worry about luxuries like this.  As she started warming up on the large punching bag, Allia started to feel guilty, like she should be down there working more and not up here indulging in trivialities like working out.  As her hand smashed into the padded bag, the pain reminded her of those she'd never be able to spare with, no more laughing and wrestling, no more challenges of prowess and strength that had been so prevelant in the group.  Before she knew it she was grunting loudly, tears streaming down her eyes as she poured every ounce of strength into her arms and legs.  Maybe if she destroyed the bag it would make up for not being able to stop the falcons.  She didn't realize how hard or how out of control she was becoming as remorse and pain numbed her reality.