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[Firefly] Ruthless Bastards of the 'Verse (Completed 3/6/09)
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<blockquote data-quote="Ao the Overkitty" data-source="post: 3034666" data-attributes="member: 9758"><p><span style="font-size: 18px"><strong>“Episode 10 –It’s Never Simple” - First Session</strong></span></p><p></p><p><em>Synopsis of 8/21/06 session - subtitled <strong>A New Hire</strong></em></p><p></p><p>With the Orasca just about ready to be on its way, Daniel sat down with Take and Mort on the bridge. Daniel inquired about how the drop off and pickup went. Mort said they went fine and went into detail about payment from the new passengers.</p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>Were any livestock taken as payment?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>No. The concept of live animals was rejected.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>Good.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>There was some kind of incident involving chicken heads, I don’t know much about it. You might have to ask Campan.</em></p><p></p><p>Mort let Daniel know that Ezmerelda had collected the platinum they received as partial payment. He then talked about their hold being filled to the brim with food and needing to devise some more freezing units or something to make sure it all kept, at least till the halfway point. Daniel then inquired where the halfway point was. Take told them that it was way out on the edge of the rim on a planet named Dodge.</p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>Cause nothing could go wrong on a planet named Dodge.</em></p><p></p><p>At this point the entire group broke out into laughter when someone noticed that Arianne had knitted little chicken head finger puppets and was playing with them.</p><p></p><p>Daniel wanted to know what they needed from Logan to determine if they were going to take the job and what information they needed. Mort stressed that they needed to find out what Logan’ cut was, because 20 was not a valid payment amount.</p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>When we asked Campan if it was twenty percent or twenty thousand, Campan asked if that wasn’t the same. Clearly he has issues with math. Next time we should just tell Campan his cut of the job is 10.</em></p><p></p><p>Mort expressed that, for twenty thousand, he’d better have good information. He put out the possibility of killing Logan and canceling some of Campan’s debt.</p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>Oh, and out of curiosity, why are we bringing Ezmerelda along with us? To a place where we’re likely going to commit some horrible crime?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>Another face would be helpful. Do we have to have this conversation before we have that one?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Take:</strong> <em>Yeah, cause it comes down to no more charity cases. Cause you know what you told me before wasn’t going to pass mustard.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>With that being said, Jenny is far more of a charity case than Ezmerelda.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Take:</strong> <em>Yeah, I know. Doesn’t make Ezmerelda acceptable.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>Yes, but the charity case that is Jenny is currently keeping Asta happy. And I like Asta happy, cause I get shot a lot. I’m not entirely sure why we’re taking on Ezmerelda, as she appears to be competent in the world.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>That about actually sums it up. I figured we needed another person to do the talking on Jiangyin who’s face isn’t plastered across half the known galaxy.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>Okay. That’s a reasonable theory. Okay. Why this person.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>I have some suspicions about her ancestry.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>What the HELL does THAT mean?! You think she’s a Navajo, what?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>I meant to ask her about this before anything came up but I think we’re already looking to ship off planet and I wanted to see how she did down there. How well DID she do down there?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> ]<em>You’d have to ask Asta or Campan, sir.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>But my thoughts were to have her pay her way with this on this planet.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>So, are we dropping her off at the waypoint or do you intend to get more information out of her before the waypoint? Because I’d like to have a firm decision on why we’re taking her on before we commence the violent and possibly dangerous crime. Can’t we just give her the standard paper work, blood tests, physical, pysch tests, etcetera?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>We could.</em></p><p></p><p>Mort went over to the filing cabinet and pulled out the Organic Chemistry text book sized employee application questionnaire and thumped it down on the console.</p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>It’s like this thick.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Take:</strong> <em>We do have SuperDoctor. I mean, a simple DNA test should help with your questions of ancestry, right?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>You keep that on the bridge?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>Sure. There’s a locker. Hold on. What kind of questions do you want answered? I’m sure we could just blend them in on here. They are mostly handwritten notes anyway. Who is your momma? Is that one you want? That’s like on page one.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Take:</strong> <em>Are you at all related to the Wee family?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>That’s already on there.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>What name did Campan give for us to Logan?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>he didn’t, sir. He just referred to ‘my bosses.’ I’m sure it was an accident sir. We have to rely on happy accidents for him to remember our fake names.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>Do you remember my current name?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>Don’t think you’ve told me, sir.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>Jack ‘Dogleg’ Horner.</em></p><p></p><p>*<em>Take and Mort start laughing</em>*</p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>Dogleg is a nickname. Jack Horner is the name.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>Yes sir. I’ll remember to call you Dogleg from now on.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>Maybe I shouldn’t create denigrating nicknames for my other identities.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>Gee, ya think? Shouldn’t Campan be Dogleg?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Take:</strong> <em>No, no. We can call him Eileen.</em></p><p></p><p>Daniel decided he had put it off long enough and sent Logan a wave. Mort and Take stayed off to the side with signs in case Daniel forgot something.</p><p></p><p>While Daniel was on the bridge, Asta left the bottle of moonshine outside his room as a peace offering for the coffee. Campan walked past the unattended jug later, but knew better than to take it. Down in the med bay, Asta and Ezmerelda were discussing killing chickens and chickens heads. The manner of this conversation weirded Jenny out enough that she was off hiding in her room. The two of them didn’t notice.</p><p></p><p>Daniel set himself up in front of the screen and put in a wave to Logan. Telling Logan’s subordinate that he was a friend of Campan’s got his call put right through.</p><p></p><p><strong>Logan:</strong> (grumpy voice) <em>I take it you would be the one in charge?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>Yep.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Logan:</strong> (grumpy voice) <em>How is Campan? Healthy, I hope.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Ryan:</strong> <em>He was jolly when <strong>I</strong> talked to him.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>He’s been healthy. Drinks a little much, but I suppose that can be understood, given the number of fiduciary concerns he has.</em></p><p></p><p>*<em>Mort holds up a sign saying ‘Fiduciary?’</em>*</p><p></p><p><strong>Logan:</strong> (raises eyebrows in a ‘what is this guy smoking’ manner) <em>Quite.</em> (slight pause) <em>So, have you thought over my business proposal over this past week?</em></p><p></p><p>Daniel said he had, but he wanted to hear the information straight from Logan before he made a decision. Logan explained that the job was a bank heist. A Core World gambler was having stakes shipped in to a depository on Regina. The stake was rather sizeable, to the sum of 70,000, in some form of currency.</p><p></p><p>Daniel asked why the Core worlder was having it shipped out here. Logan responded that the man gambled out here, as well as in the Core. Upon questioning, Logan said that the shipment should be arriving in about two months and he did not have the exact information about when it was being picked up. He explained that this was a depository for the Corone Mining Consortium for their dealings on or near Regina.</p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>He’s a friend of theirs, I take it.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Logan:</strong> <em>More they have the means to hold such a sizeable amount. They are not the type to take in any deposit from anyone, but he has connections.</em></p><p></p><p>Daniel asked what other parties were interested in this take, to which Logan did not have the answer. As far as he knew, he was the only one that had heard wind of it.</p><p></p><p>Daniel asked why Logan was contracting out on this job.</p><p></p><p><strong>Logan:</strong> <em>Think of this as a favor to Campan. I know he has fallen on hard times recently and I want to see him continue to be capable of paying his debts on time.</em></p><p></p><p>*<em>Mort holds up a sign saying ‘Can you provide us with any more information if we take the job.’</em>*</p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>If we take this, what kind of cut are you looking for?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Logan:</strong> <em>Twenty thousand.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>With such a sizeable cut, we’re going to need significantly more information than that. Without spoiling the pot, what other types of information will you provide us with if we take it?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Logan:</strong> <em>Location of Depository. Depository schematics. Where the take is likely held. Their security and number in employ. Contact on planet.</em></p><p></p><p>Daniel accepted the job. Logan sent over the schematics and other information. They depository had a dedicated security force of mostly ex-Alliance grunts that were housed off site and used the line to get to work. The depository itself was on one of rail lines, but past the passenger line. Noted was that there was an Alliance camp about twenty miles further down the rail line. The depository itself was used to hold the earnings of the miners in the area. The main vault was noted as a decoy for anyone looking to steal from the facility. There were thirteen concealed vaults spread out through the building. The building itself was three stories high plus basement and of a decent size (<em>reference made was the size of UAlbany’s main library, so compare to any large state university’s library</em>). Majority of the facility was devoted to office work.</p><p></p><p>Daniel asked Logan if he had local Alliance schedules, to which he said no. Daniel asked where they were to drop off his share. Logan listed several places they could, each along a different escape vector. Daniel got the information about their on planet contact.</p><p></p><p>Having gotten everything he felt he could out of Logan, Daniel ended the call. They then had an officer’s meeting about how they were going to handle the money. Daniel was pretty sure that just splitting up the fifty thousand between them wasn’t the way it was going to go. They discussed how they were going to break in, Daniel saying they could impersonate one of the little old ladies in the cafeteria crew. Well, they could dress Campan up as one, at least. He felt that they could conceivably impersonate someone from an outside contractor like the cafeteria who could have had someone call in sick.</p><p></p><p>With the officer’s meeting concluded, Daniel left the bridge. When he saw the jug of moonshine outside his room, he ignored it and kept going. It stayed outside his room for a couple of days before he brought it in.</p><p></p><p>Mort and Daniel headed down to the med bay to get a report from Asta about how thinks went on planet. She said Ezmerelda did a good job.</p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>I’ve been noticing there have been some skittish people onboard today, namely Jenny. What happened?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Asta:</strong> <em>Oh, uh, I made a joke, uh, involving chicken heads. It didn’t go over well.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>I can see that.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>She hasn’t met that many chickens before?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Asta:</strong> <em>I don’t know. I would assume she has, having grown up on a border world and all.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>What kind of joke?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Asta:</strong> <em>Finger puppets, sir.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>Was this a living chicken?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Asta:</strong> <em>Oh, no. Not anymore.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>I can see now why Jenny might have taken offense.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Asta:</strong> <em>Well, you know, at Medical school, we don’t always realize that civilians have a more squeamish sense of humor than a doctor has.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>And how did Ezmerelda find that?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Asta:</strong> <em>She found it funny, actually.</em></p><p></p><p>Asta noted that she should probably spend more time on her piloting skills, since she made people sick on the way down and up. Daniel commented that that was quite a feat, since autopilot usually takes care of landing pretty well.</p><p></p><p>When Campan got to his room that day he found one of the sweaters his mother had knitted him half unraveled and laying on his bed.</p><p></p><p>About two weeks into the journey, Daniel decided it was a good time for Ezmerelda’s interview. Mort pointed out that they could skip the group interview, since she had already met them and didn’t need to be intimidated.</p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>Do we want to talk to Asta so she can do the whole physical? She likes that.</em></p><p></p><p>They decided to inform Asta so she could play doctor with Ezmerelda after the application was finished.</p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>I have a feeling this is going to go better than that Leeroy person or whoever.</em></p><p></p><p>They called Ezmerelda up to the bridge.</p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>Ezmerelda. What exactly do you do?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Ezmerelda:</strong> <em>I work in a carnival, or, at least, I did.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>Why did you leave?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Ezmerelda:</strong> <em>A couple of reasons. They left me behind. There were some people who weren’t necessarily happy with me.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>Financial irregularities? Little slips into your pockets? You did this on a mining asteroid or they just happened to find out about it then?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Ezmerelda:</strong> <em>Found out about it.</em></p><p></p><p>Daniel went into a spiel about she was the passenger paying the least on board and she did a good job down on Jiangyin and wondering if they could make use of her skills again. Daniel then nodded to Mort.</p><p></p><p>With a loud thud, Mort dropped the phonebook sized application in front of her.</p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>This is our standard test. If you could just fill that out fully and completely, we’ll know what kind of crew member you would make.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Take:</strong> <em>And consider your employment.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>Unless you’d prefer to wander the galaxy doing odd jobs and getting stranded on mining asteroids.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Ezmerelda:</strong> <em>I think I’ll fill out the form.</em></p><p></p><p>Take, Mort, and Daniel read and discussed her answers amongst themselves after each page was completed.</p><p></p><p>Some of the questions included</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Were you in the Alliance/Independents war?<br /> If so, which side? Alliance, Independents, Mercenary, Civilians.<br /> If you were a civilian, which side of the war would you have preferred to have been on?<br /> Do you have feelings about any of these groups?<br /> Have you ever tried PCP/Sugar? Yes/No<br /> Where were you born?<br /> Do you believe in aliens?<br /> How do you feel about aliens?<br /> Who was your mother?<br /> Was she an alien?<br /> Do you talk to aliens often?<br /> Who was your father?<br /> What do you like for aliens?<br /> When did you stop talking to aliens?<br /> Do you have an Alliance ID?<br /> Do you have an Alliance ID that will get you arrested on the first planet we land on?<br /> Do you have a wanted warrant on a fake identity on multiple planets?<br /> If stopped and questioned by an Alliance officer, can you lie your ass off?<br /> Have you committed any of the following crimes? Murder, Arson, Cattle Rustling, Assassination, Grand Theft Spaceship. (Yes/No for each)<br /> Do you know what a chain of command is? Please explain in your own words.<br /> Do you have a problem associating with people who have been accused of the following crimes? Murder, Arson, Cattle Rustling, Assassination, Grand Theft Spaceship. (Yes/No for each)</li> </ul><p></p><p>Ezmerelda wrote that she didn’t believe in aliens. She said she hadn’t committed any of the listed crimes or tried PCP/Sugar. They figured she was lying about the PCP/Sugar, but at least they knew she could lie. She said she was too young for the war, so she was a civilian. She then said she would have been a browncoat. They figured this meant she didn’t need glasses and had some brains. She said the chain of command was there was a captain and people below him and they all followed in line. Mort liked that answer. She said she could lie to an Alliance officer. She said she was willing to associate with those accused of those crimes listed. She listed her home world as Disa and her mother as Pansy Glass. She didn’t know who her father was, he was just some guy who stopped by the planet for a night. Daniel remembered that one time he stooped so low as to associate with a woman named Pansy.</p><p></p><p>Mort grabbed the last sheet of the test, scribbled down the question <em>Do you have any cybernetic body parts?</em> and handed it back to Ezmerelda. She wrote no.</p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>As I’m sure you are quite aware, the galaxy is not a very nice place for those of us who don’t like the Alliance. It is also a hell of a place to earn a buck. So we have taken to a few liberties in the ways we earn our money. How do you feel about that?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Ezmerelda:</strong> <em>I’m certainly fine with that.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>How do you feel about the possibility of getting shot while acquisitioning things in this way?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Ezmerelda:</strong> <em>I prefer not to get shot.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>Why don’t you like sugar?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>No, sir. She said she hadn’t tried it. I think she lied, sir.</em></p><p></p><p>When asked if she could use any weapons, she said she had used a knife a couple of times and a frying pan once.</p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>She’s not for the front line.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>No, but that’s not where we’re hiring her for, sir.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>How do you feel you fit in here?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Ezmerelda:</strong> <em>I think I’ve fit in pretty well so far. I’ve gotten along with everyone pretty well. Asta and I found we both like chickens.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>I’m not so sure that’s a good thing.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>It’s not so bad. Where do you think you’ll fit in on the chain of command?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Ezmerelda:</strong> <em>Umm, at the bottom right now, until I work my way up.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>Acceptable. I’d prefer if she started above Campan. Alright. Currently, the chain of command is the captain, the XO, myself the mechanic, Asta, the cat, Campan, and Jenny. And now you. Actually, can we start her above Jenny?</em></p><p></p><p>*<em>Daniel nods</em>*</p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>Okay, now you and then Jenny.</em></p><p></p><p>Daniel went into explaining her duties as a junior member of the crew and secondary liaison to people. Ezmerelda then got sent down to the med bay for her physical. Asta apologized for the state of her equipment, despite it being the most advanced tech Ezmerelda had seen.</p><p></p><p>Later on, Jenny emerged from her room to find out what had been going on.</p><p></p><p><strong>Asta:</strong> <em>Oh, Jenny. You just missed giving Ezmerelda a physical.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jenny:</strong> <em>Why’d she need a physical?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Asta:</strong> <em>I guess they’re inviting her to join the crew.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jenny:</strong> <em>Ahh.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Asta:</strong> <em>They want someone who can be a face to the public who isn’t wanted, I guess.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Jenny:</strong> <em>I can see that. I’m going to go get some food now.</em></p><p></p><p>Back up on the bridge, the officers were talking about the interview.</p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>So, Dogleg, did we learn about the ancestry you wanted to?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>Yeah.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>Could you enlighten me? It is still bugging the hell out of me. I can’t remember where I’ve known her from.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>I don’t think you’ve met her.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>But she’s familiar!</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>Yeah. I think she’s my daughter.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>Okay then.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>She doesn’t know that yet.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>Okay. Now I understand why you considered her for the crew oh so quickly.</em></p><p></p><p>They then got into a long discussion about room arrangements, since he had plans to give Ezmerelda Jenny’s room. But he also knew Jenny had dirt on them and he didn’t want to give her a reason to sell them out. So they talked a lot about How and when they were going to do this and how they were going to fix up a passenger dorm for her. They decided they weren’t going to make any room changes until after they had money to fix up a passenger room and left it at that.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Jenny was waiting for the other shoe to drop, since Daniel had already told her that, should they take on another full-fledged crew member, she’d be giving up her room. So she spent a lot of time over the next two weeks keeping an eye on Ezmerelda and glaring at her.</p><p></p><p>After those second two weeks were over the Orasca, or the Big’Un, or the Red Herring… whatever they were calling the ship at the moment, arrived at Planet Dodge. The planet itself had a distinctly pale surface, since it was it was mostly just a chunk of irradiated rock. The one settlement on the planet was the city of Dodge, which was protected by a large dome. Several docking tubes were set up in the port area of the city for ships to secure to.</p><p></p><p>When Mort asked for the purpose of their stop, Take said they were coasting in on fumes and Daniel explained that they didn’t quite have enough cash on hand to pay for the fuel, so they needed to liquidate a few assets. As they went to dock, they were given a docking port number and told that no guns were allowed on planet.</p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>Concealed Weapons only, check! Well, can’t sell my guns here.</em></p><p></p><p>They found that there were no local Cortex stations, so they had to check with the port master to found out that knives were allowed. Since there were no cortex terminals, there were no local wanted posters. Daniel added that the place was way out on the edge of the rim, so there was no Alliance presence here. He continued to say that Dodge was run by General Fields. He was a Brigadier General in the Independent Army in the war. He had a rather large reputation along the lines of never leaving a man behind, never harming innocents, and never allowing torture of captured Alliance troops. He was a big shiny paragon of Independent virtue. Mort would have gotten in a lot of trouble, had he been stationed under him.</p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>So, if he says no guns on this planet.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>No guns on this planet.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>Furthermore, nothing of our illicit behavior on this planet. He strictly punished for things like torture, cowardice, dishonor. And I think that those of us that are currently slanted by the Alliance might want to sit tight.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>Why?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>Off chance that the wrong rumors have gotten to his ears and he thinks we’re torturers.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> (pulls out a list of the things he wanted for) <em>Umm.. Torture isn’t on here.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Take:</strong> <em>Sides, they’re Alliance lies. They’re always painting all browncoats as murderous bastards. He won’t believe them, I’m hoping.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>Yeah. We should be fine here, sir. So long as we don’t <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> it up. Maybe we should leave Campan on the ship.</em></p><p></p><p>Mort and Campan were told to go off ship to see if they could find someone to buy some of their food, with Ezmerelda along to supervise. They walked off into a rather busy port area. They found that the dome let in a rather pretty pink light. Right around their dock port was an opium den, a café/bar with outdoor seating, a pottery shop, and a protein dealer. They wandered into the pottery shop and inquired about where they could sell food. The shop dealer directed them to General Fields.</p><p></p><p>They wandered back to the ship.</p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>Hey Dogleg? Selling food should be taken up with Fields. You want to do the talking with him?</em></p><p></p><p>Daniel, Mort and Ezmerelda headed back into the city. As they moved passed the café, Daniel heard someone yell out ‘<em>Hey Buggs!</em>. Daniel recognized the voice, but ignored it.</p><p></p><p><strong>Voice from Daniel’s Past:</strong> (shouting) <em>Daniel!</em></p><p></p><p>Daniel looked over towards the café to see a guy sitting at a table waving his arms to get his attention. This didn’t make Daniel particularly happy. Nor did the fact that he was sitting with a group of people. He was a young man of around thirty years. His clothes were well maintained and rugged, but a bit seasoned. Daniel recognized the man as Lao Ting, a pilot he knew from sometime after the war. He did mostly legitimate shipping jobs, with the occasional getaway driver job.</p><p></p><p>Daniel left Ezmerelda and Mort to go over to talk to Lao.</p><p></p><p><strong>Lao Ting:</strong> (happily) <em>Hey Buggs. Pull up a chair.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>I’m sorta in the middle of an errand right now. How ya doin, Lao?</em></p><p></p><p>Daniel found out that Lao was picking up a shipment of fuel to cart it in to Persephone. Daniel pulled up a chair as Lao introduced his crew; George, Mu and Jebben. Daniel did a double take at the name Mu, but the ox of a man didn’t notice. Lao’s crew didn’t seem to care to pay attention to Daniel and Lao’s conversation. Daniel found out that Lao was shipping out in two days. Talking further with Lao, Daniel learned that Fields didn’t care about money out here, so they’d need something to barter with. Lao said that they’d get the best deal with food and munitions. Daniel said he’d see Lao sometime over the next few days. Lao told him to check out the fights.</p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>Where are they?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Lao:</strong> <em>Oh, you’ll find them. They’re the only entertainment around here.</em></p><p></p><p>Daniel returned to the other two and told him what they found out. Mort convinced Daniel to make a detour to the fights to check them out. He figured that, if there was betting, they might be able to make a little cash.</p><p></p><p>They found a very busy building about the size of a gas station convenience mart. Mort muscled his way inside. He saw a rather large pit type area in the middle of the building. Lots of people were standing around the pit shouting and cheering. Scattered around the room were bookies. People seemed to be betting all sorts of things. Some were betting with cash, some with knives, and one man was even betting with a chicken.</p><p></p><p>Mort sought out a little old man t find out what the fights were like. He found that they were usually to the knockout, but that changed. It was usually two people fighting, but they occasionally did group brawls and team fights. The guy said he had seen as many as five people in the ring at once. Betting could be on who would win, but that was boring and had bad odds. They could bet on wounds received, first blow, if someone dies, who will hit the ground first, and the like. Rules inside the ring were no weapons and no excessive padding or armor.</p><p></p><p>Mort reported back to Daniel.</p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>It is your standard pit fighting, sir. If we need to make some extra cash, It’d be a good place to do so.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>Are they betting with money?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>They’re betting with anything, sir. They also do multiple fighters and team fights. Plus you can bet on pretty much anything.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>Well, at least they’re creative. Let’s go see Fields.</em></p><p></p><p>Mort lit up a cigar as he entered the small building that housed Fields’ office. It was a nice, small office. They told his secretary that they were here to talk with Fields with regard to trade. The secretary got up, went into another room, then came back and told them he would see them. As they approached the door to Fields’ office, they noticed a no smoking sign hanging on the door. Mort sadly put his cigar out on his jacket and put it back in his pocket.</p><p></p><p>As they walked in, Daniel leaned over to Ezmerelda and whispered to her.</p><p></p><p><strong>Daniel:</strong> <em>If the bartering doesn’t look to be going my way feel free to jump in at any point.</em></p><p></p><p>The room was small, but well furnished. There was a large oak desk with two chairs on their side of it. General Fields was standing by the window, illuminated by the pink light. General Fields was a muscular, black gentleman in 60s. He had white stubble for hair and a clean shaven face. He wore a nice looking brown vest with a lighter brown undershirt. He looked like he did quite well for himself.</p><p></p><p><strong>Gabe:</strong> <em>Well, he owns a planet.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Paul:</strong> <em>It’s a sucky planet, but it’s still a planet.</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Liz:</strong> <em>Is it a planet by the old definition or the new definition?</em></p><p></p><p>*<em>Alex blows a raspberry at Liz</em>*</p><p></p><p>As they came over to the desk, General Fields sat down with them. Daniel explained they were there to barter for fuel. General Fields got straight to the point, asking what they had to barter with. Daniel and Fields haggled for a while before they were able to come to an agreement. They bartered two units of food, fifteen single barrel shotguns, and eight pistols for a full tank of gas and enough protein cubes to feed them and their passengers for the month trip to Regina. General Fields said he would have to send a man over to inspect the weapons before they exchanged goods. Both parties were happy with the arrangement, with Daniel feeling he got the slightly better deal. Mort leaves before the others to get the guns ready for inspection.</p><p></p><p>Daniel complimented the General on his place, saying it was impressive and more freedom than most places had.</p><p></p><p>On the way back to the ship, Mort noticed that no one was walking around armed; not even a knife. He thought the people were weird. Back on the ship, Mort set out the guns in the cargo bay near the door.</p><p></p><p>A couple of hours later, Mort heard a knock on the outer door to the ship. When he opened the door, he looked up at the very large man. He was a bit of a giant, being almost seven feet tall. He was dressed nicely and, notably, wore a large pistol on his hip. This went nicely with the deputy badge pinned on his chest. Mort mostly noticed that he wasn’t wearing a brown coat.</p><p></p><p><strong>Silas:</strong> <em>I’m Silas. I’m hear to inspect the munitions.</em></p><p></p><p>Mort lead him over the guns. He noticed Silas seemed to know what he was doing as he inspected each gun meticulously.</p><p></p><p>While Silas was about halfway through the shotguns, Mort heard another knock on the door.</p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> (to Silas) <em>Excuse me, one moment.</em></p><p></p><p>Mort walked over to the comm. panel and pressed it.</p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> (over comm.) <em>Campan, can you come down here for a moment?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Campan:</strong> <em>Aye, aye, Mortain.</em></p><p></p><p>When Campan walked into the cargo bay, his eyes went to the gun table.</p><p></p><p><strong>Campan:</strong> <em>Wow, are we starting a militia?</em></p><p></p><p><strong>Mort:</strong> <em>No, Campan. Stay with this gentleman for a moment.</em></p><p></p><p>As Mort headed over to the door, Daniel wandered down to the doorway into the cargo bay to see what the fuss was.</p><p></p><p>Mort opened the door to again look up at a man. This annoyed Mort, since he was used to looking down at people. The man was six foot five inches tall and built like a linebacker. He had a number of scars on his face and his clothes were a little bit nicer than Mort’s.</p><p></p><p><strong>Guy:</strong> (looking over Mort’s shoulder) <em>Yeah, I’m just looking for…</em></p><p></p><p>The man abruptly stopped talking as his gaze turned to Mort. His eyes bugged in recognition as his mouth hung open. Mort recognized this man as Darrel hagerty, a man he had grabbed the balls of and yanked and threatened to poke his eye out in an alleyway back on Santo.</p><p></p><p><strong><em>Fade to Black</em></strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ao the Overkitty, post: 3034666, member: 9758"] [size=5][b]“Episode 10 –It’s Never Simple” - First Session[/b][/size] [i]Synopsis of 8/21/06 session - subtitled [b]A New Hire[/b][/i] With the Orasca just about ready to be on its way, Daniel sat down with Take and Mort on the bridge. Daniel inquired about how the drop off and pickup went. Mort said they went fine and went into detail about payment from the new passengers. [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]Were any livestock taken as payment?[/i] [b]Mort:[/b] [i]No. The concept of live animals was rejected.[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]Good.[/i] [b]Mort:[/b] [i]There was some kind of incident involving chicken heads, I don’t know much about it. You might have to ask Campan.[/i] Mort let Daniel know that Ezmerelda had collected the platinum they received as partial payment. He then talked about their hold being filled to the brim with food and needing to devise some more freezing units or something to make sure it all kept, at least till the halfway point. Daniel then inquired where the halfway point was. Take told them that it was way out on the edge of the rim on a planet named Dodge. [b]Mort:[/b] [i]Cause nothing could go wrong on a planet named Dodge.[/i] At this point the entire group broke out into laughter when someone noticed that Arianne had knitted little chicken head finger puppets and was playing with them. Daniel wanted to know what they needed from Logan to determine if they were going to take the job and what information they needed. Mort stressed that they needed to find out what Logan’ cut was, because 20 was not a valid payment amount. [b]Mort:[/b] [i]When we asked Campan if it was twenty percent or twenty thousand, Campan asked if that wasn’t the same. Clearly he has issues with math. Next time we should just tell Campan his cut of the job is 10.[/i] Mort expressed that, for twenty thousand, he’d better have good information. He put out the possibility of killing Logan and canceling some of Campan’s debt. [b]Mort:[/b] [i]Oh, and out of curiosity, why are we bringing Ezmerelda along with us? To a place where we’re likely going to commit some horrible crime?[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]Another face would be helpful. Do we have to have this conversation before we have that one?[/i] [b]Take:[/b] [i]Yeah, cause it comes down to no more charity cases. Cause you know what you told me before wasn’t going to pass mustard.[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]With that being said, Jenny is far more of a charity case than Ezmerelda.[/i] [b]Take:[/b] [i]Yeah, I know. Doesn’t make Ezmerelda acceptable.[/i] [b]Mort:[/b] [i]Yes, but the charity case that is Jenny is currently keeping Asta happy. And I like Asta happy, cause I get shot a lot. I’m not entirely sure why we’re taking on Ezmerelda, as she appears to be competent in the world.[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]That about actually sums it up. I figured we needed another person to do the talking on Jiangyin who’s face isn’t plastered across half the known galaxy.[/i] [b]Mort:[/b] [i]Okay. That’s a reasonable theory. Okay. Why this person.[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]I have some suspicions about her ancestry.[/i] [b]Mort:[/b] [i]What the HELL does THAT mean?! You think she’s a Navajo, what?[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]I meant to ask her about this before anything came up but I think we’re already looking to ship off planet and I wanted to see how she did down there. How well DID she do down there?[/i] [b]Mort:[/b] ][i]You’d have to ask Asta or Campan, sir.[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]But my thoughts were to have her pay her way with this on this planet.[/i] [b]Mort:[/b] [i]So, are we dropping her off at the waypoint or do you intend to get more information out of her before the waypoint? Because I’d like to have a firm decision on why we’re taking her on before we commence the violent and possibly dangerous crime. Can’t we just give her the standard paper work, blood tests, physical, pysch tests, etcetera?[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]We could.[/i] Mort went over to the filing cabinet and pulled out the Organic Chemistry text book sized employee application questionnaire and thumped it down on the console. [b]Mort:[/b] [i]It’s like this thick.[/i] [b]Take:[/b] [i]We do have SuperDoctor. I mean, a simple DNA test should help with your questions of ancestry, right?[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]You keep that on the bridge?[/i] [b]Mort:[/b] [i]Sure. There’s a locker. Hold on. What kind of questions do you want answered? I’m sure we could just blend them in on here. They are mostly handwritten notes anyway. Who is your momma? Is that one you want? That’s like on page one.[/i] [b]Take:[/b] [i]Are you at all related to the Wee family?[/i] [b]Mort:[/b] [i]That’s already on there.[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]What name did Campan give for us to Logan?[/i] [b]Mort:[/b] [i]he didn’t, sir. He just referred to ‘my bosses.’ I’m sure it was an accident sir. We have to rely on happy accidents for him to remember our fake names.[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]Do you remember my current name?[/i] [b]Mort:[/b] [i]Don’t think you’ve told me, sir.[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]Jack ‘Dogleg’ Horner.[/i] *[i]Take and Mort start laughing[/i]* [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]Dogleg is a nickname. Jack Horner is the name.[/i] [b]Mort:[/b] [i]Yes sir. I’ll remember to call you Dogleg from now on.[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]Maybe I shouldn’t create denigrating nicknames for my other identities.[/i] [b]Mort:[/b] [i]Gee, ya think? Shouldn’t Campan be Dogleg?[/i] [b]Take:[/b] [i]No, no. We can call him Eileen.[/i] Daniel decided he had put it off long enough and sent Logan a wave. Mort and Take stayed off to the side with signs in case Daniel forgot something. While Daniel was on the bridge, Asta left the bottle of moonshine outside his room as a peace offering for the coffee. Campan walked past the unattended jug later, but knew better than to take it. Down in the med bay, Asta and Ezmerelda were discussing killing chickens and chickens heads. The manner of this conversation weirded Jenny out enough that she was off hiding in her room. The two of them didn’t notice. Daniel set himself up in front of the screen and put in a wave to Logan. Telling Logan’s subordinate that he was a friend of Campan’s got his call put right through. [b]Logan:[/b] (grumpy voice) [i]I take it you would be the one in charge?[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]Yep.[/i] [b]Logan:[/b] (grumpy voice) [i]How is Campan? Healthy, I hope.[/i] [b]Ryan:[/b] [i]He was jolly when [b]I[/b] talked to him.[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]He’s been healthy. Drinks a little much, but I suppose that can be understood, given the number of fiduciary concerns he has.[/i] *[i]Mort holds up a sign saying ‘Fiduciary?’[/i]* [b]Logan:[/b] (raises eyebrows in a ‘what is this guy smoking’ manner) [i]Quite.[/i] (slight pause) [i]So, have you thought over my business proposal over this past week?[/i] Daniel said he had, but he wanted to hear the information straight from Logan before he made a decision. Logan explained that the job was a bank heist. A Core World gambler was having stakes shipped in to a depository on Regina. The stake was rather sizeable, to the sum of 70,000, in some form of currency. Daniel asked why the Core worlder was having it shipped out here. Logan responded that the man gambled out here, as well as in the Core. Upon questioning, Logan said that the shipment should be arriving in about two months and he did not have the exact information about when it was being picked up. He explained that this was a depository for the Corone Mining Consortium for their dealings on or near Regina. [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]He’s a friend of theirs, I take it.[/i] [b]Logan:[/b] [i]More they have the means to hold such a sizeable amount. They are not the type to take in any deposit from anyone, but he has connections.[/i] Daniel asked what other parties were interested in this take, to which Logan did not have the answer. As far as he knew, he was the only one that had heard wind of it. Daniel asked why Logan was contracting out on this job. [b]Logan:[/b] [i]Think of this as a favor to Campan. I know he has fallen on hard times recently and I want to see him continue to be capable of paying his debts on time.[/i] *[i]Mort holds up a sign saying ‘Can you provide us with any more information if we take the job.’[/i]* [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]If we take this, what kind of cut are you looking for?[/i] [b]Logan:[/b] [i]Twenty thousand.[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]With such a sizeable cut, we’re going to need significantly more information than that. Without spoiling the pot, what other types of information will you provide us with if we take it?[/i] [b]Logan:[/b] [i]Location of Depository. Depository schematics. Where the take is likely held. Their security and number in employ. Contact on planet.[/i] Daniel accepted the job. Logan sent over the schematics and other information. They depository had a dedicated security force of mostly ex-Alliance grunts that were housed off site and used the line to get to work. The depository itself was on one of rail lines, but past the passenger line. Noted was that there was an Alliance camp about twenty miles further down the rail line. The depository itself was used to hold the earnings of the miners in the area. The main vault was noted as a decoy for anyone looking to steal from the facility. There were thirteen concealed vaults spread out through the building. The building itself was three stories high plus basement and of a decent size ([i]reference made was the size of UAlbany’s main library, so compare to any large state university’s library[/i]). Majority of the facility was devoted to office work. Daniel asked Logan if he had local Alliance schedules, to which he said no. Daniel asked where they were to drop off his share. Logan listed several places they could, each along a different escape vector. Daniel got the information about their on planet contact. Having gotten everything he felt he could out of Logan, Daniel ended the call. They then had an officer’s meeting about how they were going to handle the money. Daniel was pretty sure that just splitting up the fifty thousand between them wasn’t the way it was going to go. They discussed how they were going to break in, Daniel saying they could impersonate one of the little old ladies in the cafeteria crew. Well, they could dress Campan up as one, at least. He felt that they could conceivably impersonate someone from an outside contractor like the cafeteria who could have had someone call in sick. With the officer’s meeting concluded, Daniel left the bridge. When he saw the jug of moonshine outside his room, he ignored it and kept going. It stayed outside his room for a couple of days before he brought it in. Mort and Daniel headed down to the med bay to get a report from Asta about how thinks went on planet. She said Ezmerelda did a good job. [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]I’ve been noticing there have been some skittish people onboard today, namely Jenny. What happened?[/i] [b]Asta:[/b] [i]Oh, uh, I made a joke, uh, involving chicken heads. It didn’t go over well.[/i] [b]Mort:[/b] [i]I can see that.[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]She hasn’t met that many chickens before?[/i] [b]Asta:[/b] [i]I don’t know. I would assume she has, having grown up on a border world and all.[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]What kind of joke?[/i] [b]Asta:[/b] [i]Finger puppets, sir.[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]Was this a living chicken?[/i] [b]Asta:[/b] [i]Oh, no. Not anymore.[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]I can see now why Jenny might have taken offense.[/i] [b]Asta:[/b] [i]Well, you know, at Medical school, we don’t always realize that civilians have a more squeamish sense of humor than a doctor has.[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]And how did Ezmerelda find that?[/i] [b]Asta:[/b] [i]She found it funny, actually.[/i] Asta noted that she should probably spend more time on her piloting skills, since she made people sick on the way down and up. Daniel commented that that was quite a feat, since autopilot usually takes care of landing pretty well. When Campan got to his room that day he found one of the sweaters his mother had knitted him half unraveled and laying on his bed. About two weeks into the journey, Daniel decided it was a good time for Ezmerelda’s interview. Mort pointed out that they could skip the group interview, since she had already met them and didn’t need to be intimidated. [b]Mort:[/b] [i]Do we want to talk to Asta so she can do the whole physical? She likes that.[/i] They decided to inform Asta so she could play doctor with Ezmerelda after the application was finished. [b]Mort:[/b] [i]I have a feeling this is going to go better than that Leeroy person or whoever.[/i] They called Ezmerelda up to the bridge. [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]Ezmerelda. What exactly do you do?[/i] [b]Ezmerelda:[/b] [i]I work in a carnival, or, at least, I did.[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]Why did you leave?[/i] [b]Ezmerelda:[/b] [i]A couple of reasons. They left me behind. There were some people who weren’t necessarily happy with me.[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]Financial irregularities? Little slips into your pockets? You did this on a mining asteroid or they just happened to find out about it then?[/i] [b]Ezmerelda:[/b] [i]Found out about it.[/i] Daniel went into a spiel about she was the passenger paying the least on board and she did a good job down on Jiangyin and wondering if they could make use of her skills again. Daniel then nodded to Mort. With a loud thud, Mort dropped the phonebook sized application in front of her. [b]Mort:[/b] [i]This is our standard test. If you could just fill that out fully and completely, we’ll know what kind of crew member you would make.[/i] [b]Take:[/b] [i]And consider your employment.[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]Unless you’d prefer to wander the galaxy doing odd jobs and getting stranded on mining asteroids.[/i] [b]Ezmerelda:[/b] [i]I think I’ll fill out the form.[/i] Take, Mort, and Daniel read and discussed her answers amongst themselves after each page was completed. Some of the questions included [list]Were you in the Alliance/Independents war? If so, which side? Alliance, Independents, Mercenary, Civilians. If you were a civilian, which side of the war would you have preferred to have been on? Do you have feelings about any of these groups? Have you ever tried PCP/Sugar? Yes/No Where were you born? Do you believe in aliens? How do you feel about aliens? Who was your mother? Was she an alien? Do you talk to aliens often? Who was your father? What do you like for aliens? When did you stop talking to aliens? Do you have an Alliance ID? Do you have an Alliance ID that will get you arrested on the first planet we land on? Do you have a wanted warrant on a fake identity on multiple planets? If stopped and questioned by an Alliance officer, can you lie your ass off? Have you committed any of the following crimes? Murder, Arson, Cattle Rustling, Assassination, Grand Theft Spaceship. (Yes/No for each) Do you know what a chain of command is? Please explain in your own words. Do you have a problem associating with people who have been accused of the following crimes? Murder, Arson, Cattle Rustling, Assassination, Grand Theft Spaceship. (Yes/No for each)[/list] Ezmerelda wrote that she didn’t believe in aliens. She said she hadn’t committed any of the listed crimes or tried PCP/Sugar. They figured she was lying about the PCP/Sugar, but at least they knew she could lie. She said she was too young for the war, so she was a civilian. She then said she would have been a browncoat. They figured this meant she didn’t need glasses and had some brains. She said the chain of command was there was a captain and people below him and they all followed in line. Mort liked that answer. She said she could lie to an Alliance officer. She said she was willing to associate with those accused of those crimes listed. She listed her home world as Disa and her mother as Pansy Glass. She didn’t know who her father was, he was just some guy who stopped by the planet for a night. Daniel remembered that one time he stooped so low as to associate with a woman named Pansy. Mort grabbed the last sheet of the test, scribbled down the question [i]Do you have any cybernetic body parts?[/i] and handed it back to Ezmerelda. She wrote no. [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]As I’m sure you are quite aware, the galaxy is not a very nice place for those of us who don’t like the Alliance. It is also a hell of a place to earn a buck. So we have taken to a few liberties in the ways we earn our money. How do you feel about that?[/i] [b]Ezmerelda:[/b] [i]I’m certainly fine with that.[/i] [b]Mort:[/b] [i]How do you feel about the possibility of getting shot while acquisitioning things in this way?[/i] [b]Ezmerelda:[/b] [i]I prefer not to get shot.[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]Why don’t you like sugar?[/i] [b]Mort:[/b] [i]No, sir. She said she hadn’t tried it. I think she lied, sir.[/i] When asked if she could use any weapons, she said she had used a knife a couple of times and a frying pan once. [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]She’s not for the front line.[/i] [b]Mort:[/b] [i]No, but that’s not where we’re hiring her for, sir.[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]How do you feel you fit in here?[/i] [b]Ezmerelda:[/b] [i]I think I’ve fit in pretty well so far. I’ve gotten along with everyone pretty well. Asta and I found we both like chickens.[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]I’m not so sure that’s a good thing.[/i] [b]Mort:[/b] [i]It’s not so bad. Where do you think you’ll fit in on the chain of command?[/i] [b]Ezmerelda:[/b] [i]Umm, at the bottom right now, until I work my way up.[/i] [b]Mort:[/b] [i]Acceptable. I’d prefer if she started above Campan. Alright. Currently, the chain of command is the captain, the XO, myself the mechanic, Asta, the cat, Campan, and Jenny. And now you. Actually, can we start her above Jenny?[/i] *[i]Daniel nods[/i]* [b]Mort:[/b] [i]Okay, now you and then Jenny.[/i] Daniel went into explaining her duties as a junior member of the crew and secondary liaison to people. Ezmerelda then got sent down to the med bay for her physical. Asta apologized for the state of her equipment, despite it being the most advanced tech Ezmerelda had seen. Later on, Jenny emerged from her room to find out what had been going on. [b]Asta:[/b] [i]Oh, Jenny. You just missed giving Ezmerelda a physical.[/i] [b]Jenny:[/b] [i]Why’d she need a physical?[/i] [b]Asta:[/b] [i]I guess they’re inviting her to join the crew.[/i] [b]Jenny:[/b] [i]Ahh.[/i] [b]Asta:[/b] [i]They want someone who can be a face to the public who isn’t wanted, I guess.[/i] [b]Jenny:[/b] [i]I can see that. I’m going to go get some food now.[/i] Back up on the bridge, the officers were talking about the interview. [b]Mort:[/b] [i]So, Dogleg, did we learn about the ancestry you wanted to?[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]Yeah.[/i] [b]Mort:[/b] [i]Could you enlighten me? It is still bugging the hell out of me. I can’t remember where I’ve known her from.[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]I don’t think you’ve met her.[/i] [b]Mort:[/b] [i]But she’s familiar![/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]Yeah. I think she’s my daughter.[/i] [b]Mort:[/b] [i]Okay then.[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]She doesn’t know that yet.[/i] [b]Mort:[/b] [i]Okay. Now I understand why you considered her for the crew oh so quickly.[/i] They then got into a long discussion about room arrangements, since he had plans to give Ezmerelda Jenny’s room. But he also knew Jenny had dirt on them and he didn’t want to give her a reason to sell them out. So they talked a lot about How and when they were going to do this and how they were going to fix up a passenger dorm for her. They decided they weren’t going to make any room changes until after they had money to fix up a passenger room and left it at that. Meanwhile, Jenny was waiting for the other shoe to drop, since Daniel had already told her that, should they take on another full-fledged crew member, she’d be giving up her room. So she spent a lot of time over the next two weeks keeping an eye on Ezmerelda and glaring at her. After those second two weeks were over the Orasca, or the Big’Un, or the Red Herring… whatever they were calling the ship at the moment, arrived at Planet Dodge. The planet itself had a distinctly pale surface, since it was it was mostly just a chunk of irradiated rock. The one settlement on the planet was the city of Dodge, which was protected by a large dome. Several docking tubes were set up in the port area of the city for ships to secure to. When Mort asked for the purpose of their stop, Take said they were coasting in on fumes and Daniel explained that they didn’t quite have enough cash on hand to pay for the fuel, so they needed to liquidate a few assets. As they went to dock, they were given a docking port number and told that no guns were allowed on planet. [b]Mort:[/b] [i]Concealed Weapons only, check! Well, can’t sell my guns here.[/i] They found that there were no local Cortex stations, so they had to check with the port master to found out that knives were allowed. Since there were no cortex terminals, there were no local wanted posters. Daniel added that the place was way out on the edge of the rim, so there was no Alliance presence here. He continued to say that Dodge was run by General Fields. He was a Brigadier General in the Independent Army in the war. He had a rather large reputation along the lines of never leaving a man behind, never harming innocents, and never allowing torture of captured Alliance troops. He was a big shiny paragon of Independent virtue. Mort would have gotten in a lot of trouble, had he been stationed under him. [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]So, if he says no guns on this planet.[/i] [b]Mort:[/b] [i]No guns on this planet.[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]Furthermore, nothing of our illicit behavior on this planet. He strictly punished for things like torture, cowardice, dishonor. And I think that those of us that are currently slanted by the Alliance might want to sit tight.[/i] [b]Mort:[/b] [i]Why?[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]Off chance that the wrong rumors have gotten to his ears and he thinks we’re torturers.[/i] [b]Mort:[/b] (pulls out a list of the things he wanted for) [i]Umm.. Torture isn’t on here.[/i] [b]Take:[/b] [i]Sides, they’re Alliance lies. They’re always painting all browncoats as murderous bastards. He won’t believe them, I’m hoping.[/i] [b]Mort:[/b] [i]Yeah. We should be fine here, sir. So long as we don’t :):):):) it up. Maybe we should leave Campan on the ship.[/i] Mort and Campan were told to go off ship to see if they could find someone to buy some of their food, with Ezmerelda along to supervise. They walked off into a rather busy port area. They found that the dome let in a rather pretty pink light. Right around their dock port was an opium den, a café/bar with outdoor seating, a pottery shop, and a protein dealer. They wandered into the pottery shop and inquired about where they could sell food. The shop dealer directed them to General Fields. They wandered back to the ship. [b]Mort:[/b] [i]Hey Dogleg? Selling food should be taken up with Fields. You want to do the talking with him?[/i] Daniel, Mort and Ezmerelda headed back into the city. As they moved passed the café, Daniel heard someone yell out ‘[i]Hey Buggs![/i]. Daniel recognized the voice, but ignored it. [b]Voice from Daniel’s Past:[/b] (shouting) [i]Daniel![/i] Daniel looked over towards the café to see a guy sitting at a table waving his arms to get his attention. This didn’t make Daniel particularly happy. Nor did the fact that he was sitting with a group of people. He was a young man of around thirty years. His clothes were well maintained and rugged, but a bit seasoned. Daniel recognized the man as Lao Ting, a pilot he knew from sometime after the war. He did mostly legitimate shipping jobs, with the occasional getaway driver job. Daniel left Ezmerelda and Mort to go over to talk to Lao. [b]Lao Ting:[/b] (happily) [i]Hey Buggs. Pull up a chair.[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]I’m sorta in the middle of an errand right now. How ya doin, Lao?[/i] Daniel found out that Lao was picking up a shipment of fuel to cart it in to Persephone. Daniel pulled up a chair as Lao introduced his crew; George, Mu and Jebben. Daniel did a double take at the name Mu, but the ox of a man didn’t notice. Lao’s crew didn’t seem to care to pay attention to Daniel and Lao’s conversation. Daniel found out that Lao was shipping out in two days. Talking further with Lao, Daniel learned that Fields didn’t care about money out here, so they’d need something to barter with. Lao said that they’d get the best deal with food and munitions. Daniel said he’d see Lao sometime over the next few days. Lao told him to check out the fights. [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]Where are they?[/i] [b]Lao:[/b] [i]Oh, you’ll find them. They’re the only entertainment around here.[/i] Daniel returned to the other two and told him what they found out. Mort convinced Daniel to make a detour to the fights to check them out. He figured that, if there was betting, they might be able to make a little cash. They found a very busy building about the size of a gas station convenience mart. Mort muscled his way inside. He saw a rather large pit type area in the middle of the building. Lots of people were standing around the pit shouting and cheering. Scattered around the room were bookies. People seemed to be betting all sorts of things. Some were betting with cash, some with knives, and one man was even betting with a chicken. Mort sought out a little old man t find out what the fights were like. He found that they were usually to the knockout, but that changed. It was usually two people fighting, but they occasionally did group brawls and team fights. The guy said he had seen as many as five people in the ring at once. Betting could be on who would win, but that was boring and had bad odds. They could bet on wounds received, first blow, if someone dies, who will hit the ground first, and the like. Rules inside the ring were no weapons and no excessive padding or armor. Mort reported back to Daniel. [b]Mort:[/b] [i]It is your standard pit fighting, sir. If we need to make some extra cash, It’d be a good place to do so.[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]Are they betting with money?[/i] [b]Mort:[/b] [i]They’re betting with anything, sir. They also do multiple fighters and team fights. Plus you can bet on pretty much anything.[/i] [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]Well, at least they’re creative. Let’s go see Fields.[/i] Mort lit up a cigar as he entered the small building that housed Fields’ office. It was a nice, small office. They told his secretary that they were here to talk with Fields with regard to trade. The secretary got up, went into another room, then came back and told them he would see them. As they approached the door to Fields’ office, they noticed a no smoking sign hanging on the door. Mort sadly put his cigar out on his jacket and put it back in his pocket. As they walked in, Daniel leaned over to Ezmerelda and whispered to her. [b]Daniel:[/b] [i]If the bartering doesn’t look to be going my way feel free to jump in at any point.[/i] The room was small, but well furnished. There was a large oak desk with two chairs on their side of it. General Fields was standing by the window, illuminated by the pink light. General Fields was a muscular, black gentleman in 60s. He had white stubble for hair and a clean shaven face. He wore a nice looking brown vest with a lighter brown undershirt. He looked like he did quite well for himself. [b]Gabe:[/b] [i]Well, he owns a planet.[/i] [b]Paul:[/b] [i]It’s a sucky planet, but it’s still a planet.[/i] [b]Liz:[/b] [i]Is it a planet by the old definition or the new definition?[/i] *[i]Alex blows a raspberry at Liz[/i]* As they came over to the desk, General Fields sat down with them. Daniel explained they were there to barter for fuel. General Fields got straight to the point, asking what they had to barter with. Daniel and Fields haggled for a while before they were able to come to an agreement. They bartered two units of food, fifteen single barrel shotguns, and eight pistols for a full tank of gas and enough protein cubes to feed them and their passengers for the month trip to Regina. General Fields said he would have to send a man over to inspect the weapons before they exchanged goods. Both parties were happy with the arrangement, with Daniel feeling he got the slightly better deal. Mort leaves before the others to get the guns ready for inspection. Daniel complimented the General on his place, saying it was impressive and more freedom than most places had. On the way back to the ship, Mort noticed that no one was walking around armed; not even a knife. He thought the people were weird. Back on the ship, Mort set out the guns in the cargo bay near the door. A couple of hours later, Mort heard a knock on the outer door to the ship. When he opened the door, he looked up at the very large man. He was a bit of a giant, being almost seven feet tall. He was dressed nicely and, notably, wore a large pistol on his hip. This went nicely with the deputy badge pinned on his chest. Mort mostly noticed that he wasn’t wearing a brown coat. [b]Silas:[/b] [i]I’m Silas. I’m hear to inspect the munitions.[/i] Mort lead him over the guns. He noticed Silas seemed to know what he was doing as he inspected each gun meticulously. While Silas was about halfway through the shotguns, Mort heard another knock on the door. [b]Mort:[/b] (to Silas) [i]Excuse me, one moment.[/i] Mort walked over to the comm. panel and pressed it. [b]Mort:[/b] (over comm.) [i]Campan, can you come down here for a moment?[/i] [b]Campan:[/b] [i]Aye, aye, Mortain.[/i] When Campan walked into the cargo bay, his eyes went to the gun table. [b]Campan:[/b] [i]Wow, are we starting a militia?[/i] [b]Mort:[/b] [i]No, Campan. Stay with this gentleman for a moment.[/i] As Mort headed over to the door, Daniel wandered down to the doorway into the cargo bay to see what the fuss was. Mort opened the door to again look up at a man. This annoyed Mort, since he was used to looking down at people. The man was six foot five inches tall and built like a linebacker. He had a number of scars on his face and his clothes were a little bit nicer than Mort’s. [b]Guy:[/b] (looking over Mort’s shoulder) [i]Yeah, I’m just looking for…[/i] The man abruptly stopped talking as his gaze turned to Mort. His eyes bugged in recognition as his mouth hung open. Mort recognized this man as Darrel hagerty, a man he had grabbed the balls of and yanked and threatened to poke his eye out in an alleyway back on Santo. [b][i]Fade to Black[/i][/b] [/QUOTE]
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[Firefly] Ruthless Bastards of the 'Verse (Completed 3/6/09)
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