Summary: Claudia is dropped off on Paquin without incident. The crew heads to Triumph to meet with a group of radicals looking to purchase the contraband weaponry hidden throughout Vega's walls. Despite reassurance from their main job contact, Kelsey Dupont, the group has in fact been taken over by a man by the name of Ted Brown, who aims to gain more than the Vega's cargo - he'd like to steal the whole boat and those in it, too. Shai gets shot in the shoulder, Xin beats the crap out of Brown's son (and kills him), which causes the man to rethink his plan, especially when Kasai, a stranger to the Vega crew, shows up and begins to mow down thugs left and right. Quinn manages to take Brown hostage. To be continued!
16:05:51 [Quinn] Claudia had accomplished the tasks Quinn asked her to do, so her weapons were returned and she was dropped off in a small town instead of the middle of nowhere. Although the captain was relieved, she became quiet and a little moody as Triumph approached, and kept busy repeating tasks and pacing the hallways. This was the largest job they'd taken on since it was just herself and Shaiyat on board, and larger jobs meant greater risk. It was normally an unspoken rule to take a shuttle out instead of bringing the whole ship, but Quinn felt she had little choice, and planned on landing nearby the camp where the cargo was supposed to go. She bothered Shai several times to message Kelsey Dupont to see if anything had changed, and his answering messages were positive. As they broke atmo she instructed Shai on where to land – close enough to walk but far enough to defend themselves, if necessary. Quinn had asked Xin to stay in the sickbay or back in his room, and also planned on having Shai stay in the cockpit. <c>
16:05:58 [Quinn] “We'll head back 'n visit town after this, let the doctor get his supplies. May pick up a few things for the mess.”
16:21:53 Shaiyat sat in the cockpit with Quinn, both hands held tight to Vega's steering wheel as he felt out the turbulence and tried to give them the smoothest landing possible...for Xin's sake at least. Seeing as the weather was dry as a bone this wasn't too hard to accomplish, it was more the hilly terrain he had to sort out...The vessel came to rest finally with a large amount of creaking throughout, the adjustments of the landing gear on the uneven surface making quite a bit of noise and left the ship tilted just slightly off kilter to the right. “Should get more'a those bell peppers...” Shai quipped, his single eye focused on the many tiny screens in front of him, one hand flicking switches above his head. The engines answered by powering down to a low hum, left on standby in case this hand off should go bad. Shai didn't like the idea of Quinn going out on her own one bit, but didn't see a better option at the moment. “We're set, gonna open 'er up.” Shai announced over the comm. System before he got up
16:22:35 [Shaiyat] with a small sigh. “We'll jus' drop 'em off and get what we need and go.” He reassured himself, and Quinn with a nod before leaving the cockpit and going down with her to the cargo bay. He was going to wave her off at least....meanwhile, down below the cargo bay doors opened, the warm dusty air rushing in to drive out the cold of space. The sun showed bright up above, a further reminder than they were planetside now...which also meant people. If one looked past the rather large hill Vega was tucked behind the could spot a good shine of metal in the distance. It appeared to be some kind of bunker, or perhaps another ship from this far away...a few dots of people milling around it. One of the shapes separated from the scene in the distance...a red-headed woman with a broad frame approached, this becoming more evident the closer she came. A ship landing wasn't quiet after all...and they'd given their contact an idea of where to meet up.
16:24:27 XinTou had no issues with being told to wait inside. He only carried a gun when absolutely needed and didn't shoot altogether that well when he needed to. I mean, he wasn't altogether goddawful, but the Browncoats' primary concern was not their medics' shooting abilities. If they could hit the Alliance fuckers 5/10 times and only hit fellow Independents once or twice, they called that a win. Anyways. Xin was currently lounging in his room, having lit a few sticks of incense for relaxation. The doctor was dressed casually, comfortably, but still presentable in a pinch. Gray tank top, black cargo pants, barefoot. The only thing that made him look a little more relaxed than usual was his unmade hair. Although it had been combed, it was allowed to lay in its natural state which was extremely curly. However, his moustache had still been waxed into two fine points. After he had disposed of the matches used to light the incense, he meandered over to his phone screen, and began to dial out. After a few ©
16:24:52 [XinTou] moments, a mechanical operator asked Xin to state his callee. "Qi Pao, Companion number #A658890, New Melbourne." He then leaned back on his bed, folded his arms across his chest, and settled himself into the less than perfectly graceful landing while the operator connected the call.
16:31:54 Quinn made her way down to the cargo hold and slid a panel to the floor. She crawled into the small space and reappeared with a heavy black case, which she balanced on one hip as the other hand replaced the panel. “Alrigh',” she said, peering out and seeing the familiar woman approach. “All goes as planned start loadin' the shuttle.” Quinn squinted as she stepped into the sunlight and walked out, stopping between the fort and the Vega as she waited for someone to approach. Dust billowed out from around the crate as it connected with the earth. Her left pant leg had been left down to make her handicap less obvious, though it was readily apparent she didn't have as shoe on that side. Quinn lifted a hand in greeting as the woman got closer. “Been a while, Aimee.”
16:40:05 [Shaiyat] Vega was parked behind a large hill, encircled by a few more in a bowl-like depression that left her surrounded on all side expect for one open...when Aimee walked up. This in Shai's mind left them mostly protected. What he didn't account for was this leaving them unable to see what might be hiding beyond those hills, in the scrub and dust. Anyhow, the pilot found himself reluctant to leave right away, watching Quinn make the meeting with his arms folded in front of him. She'd be mad that he was hanging around and not in the cockpit like she order but...this was going to all go well, right? Aimee walked up with a smile that just a bit too big, pushing her large cheeks even wider as she offered the Captain a hearty hello. “Has been a bit, hasn't it. Glad your still in one piece. ” Her eyes trailed to the prothetic leg briefly before she settled back into a more bussiness like manner. “So, looks like you're doin' well....got yourself a doctor on this boat an' everythin?” She peered toward
16:40:34 [Shaiyat] he vessel as if she could see inside, her voice raising a bit louder almost needlessly. Her eyes wouldn't meet Quinn's, not once.
16:44:44 [XinTou] After a moment, a face appeared on the screen. A diminutive Asian woman with lovely features, but had obviously seen better days. From appearances, she looked late thirties, early forties. Her made up face grinned widely at the sight of the pierced, tattooed man. "Ni hao ma, Gao Xin Tou?" Xin smiled back, with a respectful incline of his head. "Ni zao. Hao jiu bu jian le. Too long. I see you still set up shop in New Melbourne, much to my benefit but to the loss of some rich bureaucrat on one of the core planets." She laughed aloud, a beautiful, soft sounding thing. "I doubt they could handle or afford me." Xin laughed back politely, then paused to ensure his door was still closed. When he had done so, he looked back to the woman. "Qi, zher teng. Badly." He made some sort of gesture towards his back. "I was wondering if you had an hour or so available in the next few days for tui na?" The doctor kept his voice casual, but it seemed rather important.
16:50:42 Quinn had tried to seem friendly, a little smile turning the corners of her mouth. That quickly faded as the woman's behavior became more odd by the second. The heavyset woman had been the easygoing grandma type the few times she had met her before – annoying, but tolerable and easy to read. Quinn uncrossed her arms, grey eyes flickering to the landscape around the woman as she shifted her weight, trying not to make it obvious. “Got our ups 'n downs,” the captain answered easily with a shrug. She forced a smile as she peered toward Aimee, the crate nudged with her foot. “Well take a look 'n see if it's what yer boys want.” Quinn placed her hands on her hips and drummed her fingers lightly, one hand resting next to the holster at her belt.
17:06:40 Shaiyat stayed back still, yawning once as he glanced back towards the doctor's room curiously...but he left the man alone now. He had to focus just in case things went wrong...at least he had his gun on him this time. Meanwhile Aimee's friendly demeanor remained despite her question being shot down...she walked towards the offered box, kneeling down with a short huff. “Aw, I'm sure the goods are all 'ere” As she knelt it became suddenly apparent she wasn't as alone as she seemed. Two men walked out from behind the hills, both with shot guns trained on the Captain as soon as their faces showed. Or didn't so rather, the entire group seemed to favor wearing blue scarves to hide their identity....more and more popped up after the first two. About twenty or so armed men making their appearance throughout the hills. Only one didn't hide his face, a tall man with a large black cowboy hat that seemed a bit too big on him. He grinned as he moved forward, both his guns still openly viable, but away on each hip.
17:07:03 [Shaiyat] “ Thank ya Aimee...I'll negotiate from here” With a look of apology the red-head stood up, glancing a Quinn only once before she backed away. “ So, what's your life worth to you, miss? You got a nice old ship...anything else?” The grin stayed. Near Vega about five of these same thugs had popped up, guns ready as they moved to enter the ship. Shai simply wasn't fast enough with his weapon so he left it in place...frowning. “'Ey...uh..” He wasn't sure just what had gone wrong, as he couldn't hear the exchange outside. But it looked bad...his worried glance towards the Doctor's room probably gave the man's presence away and one of the thugs moved away to investigate, the other four now surrounding Shai. The man walked heavy enough to be heard by Xin, his boots loudly stepping down the metal floored hallway. “Got a girl back here?” He called out tauntingly back to the pilot...
17:12:02 [XinTou] The woman considered Xin a moment, then nodded. "Yes, I have some free hours for appointments, that should not be a trouble." Suddenly she giggled, crinkling her nose up curiously. "Xin, why don't you-" "Thank you." Xin cut her off abruptly, causing her face to fall slightly. There was an uneasy, awkward pause for a moment, then Xin spoke again, "As always, it is my pleasure to see you and may you see prosperous times. I eagerly await to be in your physical presence again." He tried to inject some warmth in his farewell, attempting to undo the damage of his interruption. Qi Pao, obviously relieved, nodded politely and the screen flickered off as the wave ended. And just at the right time too. As the screen's buzzing faded, he cracked open his door, sensing a slight...disturbance. Sure enough, he managed to hear, "..what's your life worth to you". Eyes widening, he quietly slipped over to a chest at the end of his bunk, withdrawing a pistol. At the question of a girl being back there, Xin, (c)
17:13:32 [XinTou] ever the opportunist, quietly whimpered in a high pitched voice, sounding quite girlish. Silently, he cocked his gun, hiding behind his door to get a better vantage point on the fucker when he stepped in the room.
17:28:50 [Kasai] On a not so distant hill, a hooded man looked down upon what was unfolding around the Vega through some binos. He scanned the people there and a smirk came to his face. "Anata ga mitsuketa." He muttered to himself as he dropped the binos aside and began to walk towards the incident. His nice clothes were covered in layers of sand and dirt from multiple days of traveling without much rest. He was approaching from behind the black hatted man but was still quite far away, out of earshot. He continued muttering to himself under his breath, curses and expletives from multiple languages crossed his lips. He paused for a moment when he came into hearing distance, taking a moment to try and deciphet what exactly was going on outside the Firefly class ship involving his target and these unfortunate people dealing with him.
17:31:00 Quinn 's right hand slid to rest on the butt of her gun when Aimee knelt. “Sure are,” she mumbled, taking the opportunity to look around as she quietly slid the Ruger from its place. Once the two men appeared Quinn's pistol came up to train between them, ready to shoot until it seemed they weren't the only problems appearing out of the dust. “Shit.” The captain's first reaction was one of relief – with Shai up in the cockpit most of the men could be taken care of with <i>Vega's<i> cannon. But as she waited and yet more thugs appeared, Quinn began to realize the ship had already been taken over in her absence, or Shai wasn't where he was supposed to be. Pissed, the woman kicked the box as Aimee went to stand, probably knocking it into her and hopefully shoving her over. Bitch. The apparent leader of this outfit, previously a lowly hired gun, was given a sour look as Quinn trained her pistol on him... though at this point, it wasn't going to do much good. “Jus' what I came here to deliver, Brown. Ain't no <c>
17:31:07 [Quinn] bad blood between us. Lemme unload so you can get yer weapons an' I'll get outta yer hair.” Kasai's presence had been noticed but Quinn's eyes remained fixed on Brown.
17:46:43 Shaiyat was not where he was supposed to be. Nope. He was surrounded by thugs, backed against a wall and feeling pretty helpless when it came to the man making his way to Xin's room. The creep took the bait however, fully believing that his new captive was a woman. He didn't even take into account that the female could be armed...or really a man. He stepped towards the cracked door with an excited chuckle. “Wont hurt ya none, come on now girlie...we'll be good friends.” He laughed again, one hand pushing the door open. His shot gun was held pointing upward, not guessing he was going to need to use it anytime soon...this would give the doctor the opening he needed. Meanwhile, Quinn would have Brown to deal with outside...and as much as he grinned he didn't aim to stay friendly. “ As you can see Miss, we have plenty of guns.” He paused to wave to all his men for empathsis “ But a ship...maybe a doctor or some more men. That I can use, shiney?” He looked on towards the ship, getting just
17:47:04 [Shaiyat] enough of a glimpse of his men around a less familiar one. “Hey boys! “ Brown called out. “ Think the lady here needs some convincing that we mean business!” With that, the closest one to the pilot shot him before Shai even had a chance to move...but Xin and Quinn would certainly hear him scream. “<b>So, shiny?</b>” The man with the over-sized cowboy hat kept on grinning.
17:54:05 [XinTou] The man had barely stepped into the room when he became a worthy recipient of Xin's elbow to his nose. As quickly as he could, Xin then crossed his arm around the man's chest, pulling him towards himself as he leveled his gun at his head. If the goon was still holding onto his pistol at this point, Xin threw a violent knee into his crotch, in hopes of startling the man and making him drop his weapon. "Hey Captain!" He called out breezily as he struggled, sounding unconcerned in a precarious situation, as he was wont to do. "If you hadn't any plans with this piece of luh-suh, I sure do. I was just thinking that we could use some spare vital organs on board. You know. Just in case." His heart dropped a fraction when heard Shai's scream. "I have your man right here, under my control!" With that, he pointed his gun downward and shot the now bleeding and crying man in the foot. After his scream had subsided, Xin bellowed back, "You will leave and allow me to attend to my shipmate or I will (c)
17:55:48 [XinTou] kill this man in the next twenty seconds! Dong ma?"
18:08:52 Kasai had watched long enough to figure what was going on. As Brown conversed with the woman from the ship, the hooded man picked up his pace and smirked. "Kore wa watashi no ai..." As he neared Brown, he stopped abruptly and pulled a 1911 model pistol from his coat. He popped off quick, but well-aimed shots at the men attacking the ship, headshots for the men closest toe Brown, body shots for the men further away closer to the ship's captain, and a shot to the back of the knee for Brown. Regardless of whether any of his shots missed or not he still talked big, "Never learned how to treat a lady proper, did ya you buhn dahn?" He trained his pistol on Brown, but kept an eye on the redhead as he continued his approach. As he came closer into view, the katana strapped to his waist became visible, a somewhat odd sight that made him stand out a bit more. He looked to Quinn for a second, "Better take care of your crew inside, I can mop up this aku."
18:22:53 Quinn growled something under her breath when it seemed Brown wasn't going to budge on his demands. She heard XinTou shouting but wasn't in a place to answer right away, instead beginning to argue that the ship wasn't worth his time. She hadn't gotten far before the man interrupted her with a demand to cause trouble. The color drained from Quinn's face as Shai's scream echoed out from the cargo hold. Her lips curled back over her teeth and her hands shook, her finger very nearly pulling the trigger to put a bullet in Brown's brainpan. But she resisted somehow, the logical side of her knowing they had a better shot of escaping if she were still alive. Quinn very nearly agreed to Brown's demand of the ship, hoping to catch him off guard and take back control of the situation, until the doctor's new demands gave her a better idea. She had no idea whether or not the man would take the bait, considering outfits such as these usually didn't value their members, but it was worth a try. “Tell yer men to lower their <c>
18:23:06 [Quinn] weapons,” she spat through gritted teeth. Hopefully he had done so before Kasai started shooting the bodyguards and men stationed by the Vega; for a second Quinn thought Brown had opened fire on herself and the rest of the crew. The man's face probably told her otherwise and she quickly took advantage of the surprise, rushing forward to try and wrap an arm around the man's neck and pull his body backward. While trying to keep him off balance, Quinn would also attempt to remove the man's shotguns from their holsters. If all went well, Quinn would move forward a few steps, pressing the Ruger's nose hard into Brown's back. She shouted for the benefit of those stationed farther out. “Weapons on the ground 'fore yer out two men. Now!” She had no clue who Kasai was but was instantly thankful for turning the tides in their favor. “See to it, stranger... got some things to discuss with Brown here.”
18:32:26 [Shaiyat] The man now in Xin's control just happened to be Brown's son, and was just as slimy as his father...but he'd made his first mistake assuming he was safe. And now he was shot, beaten and at the mercy of the opposite side. Even so, none of the other three thugs wanted to be responsible for their leader's son's demise. Two backed away from Shai, guns half-lowered along with their heads as they back slowly down the ramp...the third however, a bear of a man with a huge scruffy black beard kept his gun trained on the pilot. He had his huge hand pressed against the thin Pilot, keeping him pinned against the cargo bay wall. Blood began to soak the right sleeve of Shai's flight suit, showing clearly where he'd been shot. The bear-thug that held him now had been smart enough to take Shai's weapon and throw it out of arm's reach. He turned his back somewhat to the pilot in order to face the doctor, his gun moving up to point directly at Xin as he sneered. “No.” Shai, still in a great deal of shock, gave a >
18:34:18 [Shaiyat] pleading look towards the doctor. He mouthed clearly as he could 'shoot him', knowing full well things were going badly and he really needed to get back to his post. Where he should be. Damnit. The big thug's bravado however didn't last long once things went to hell outside. His gun shoke gun a bit, and the one shot he let off was poorly aimed before he let go of Shai and tried to run, in his haste possibly bowling into Kasai if the man didn't move. The tables had turned rather quickly it seemed. As soon as the first two of Shai's attackers got out of the ship they were shot by Kasai's bullets, the other two guards with Brown going down thanks to his surprise attack and Quinn's good aim. Brown, as over confident as his son, was held captive before he could draw any sort of weapon. “ Do what she says!” He called out, always one to save his neck...he figured Kasai was with Quinn the whole time, and he looked rather sour about it. The other thugs listened however, those that hung around. Most didn'
18:34:56 [Shaiyat] didn't stick around to be on the losing side. “ I want my son...then we talk...” He grumbled through gritted teeth back at Quinn, trying to glance towards the ship in fear that he was one of those who'd been shot.
18:38:37 XinTou assumed the worst once he heard the extra shots fired. He re-aimed the pistol at his captive's head, and, with a moment of hesitation and a grimace, pulled the trigger. The bullet soared cleanly through the other man's head, leaving a splattering of blood and brains on his walls and leaving him none too clean either. Choosing to ignore that fact for the present, a bloodied Xin reloaded and warily headed out of his room and closer to the brawl, staying alert and covered at all times. He ducked down into a corner, calling out, "Shai! Quinn! ...what I am assuming to be a motherfucking stranger! Are you all right? Ze shi shen me?!" Too late, he heard Brown's voice about his son...that sorry son of a bitch was using Xin's room as a temporary tomb at the moment. Xin gritted his teeth regretfully, but nothing could be done about it now. Hearing the situation, he ran over to Shai, attempting to lift the man and carry him to the sickbay. "C'mon. Let's let the adults talk now."
18:54:39 Kasai had no time to respond to Quinn as events unfolded quickly. As the large man headed towards him, he instinctively dropped his gun to the side and whipped his katana from it's sheath and through the large man's torso. He looked at the heap of a man below him, then glanced at the ship and the retreating bandits. "Seems the situation with your crew took care of itself..." He looked at Brown. "I've got business with this haiben myself, but in the interest of chivalry I'll let you go first." He flicked his wrist, sending the blood off his sword before he sheathed it. He bent over to pick up his pistol. "I'll go see to his son, if he's still alive." He walked up and into the ship, pulling his hood back to reveal his face. He looked to Xin and Shai, then glanced around. "He's dead, isn't he?" He was addressing the two crewmates, hoping they'd know what he was asking.
((Game continues on the board!))
