The Syndicate

Location: Jenny Wren, Cockpit

Liam sat leaning back in his chair, his thoughts on the star's outside and the teeming spaceport beyond. He blinked as he heard a burst of static and didn't think anything of it, closing his eyes and covering his face with his hat. Then it happened again, another burst of static from the communications system. His eye's fluttered open as he pulled the hat slowly away from his face. A woman's face slowly appeared from the static filled screen. He had not seen her before but she clearly had their communications system's number.

"McKee!" the voice called with urgency which pulled him to an upright position. He turned to face the communications system and stared at the woman on the screen. The look on her face was telling. He keyed the system up a bit higher. "Dammit Princess, your gorram crew stepped in it! Someone answer!"

He keyed the intercom system to life. "The Princess is currently out at the moment, but I can certainly take a message on your behalf and see that it's delivered." he said.

"Who the hell are you!" she said sharply, her voice conveying her increased annoyance.

He gave her a nod. "Liam, but my friends call me Low. You can call me LIam, seeing as were not much acquainted!" he said with a slight smile.

"So your the one they are after then, some men here roughing up people something fierce, I recon your about to have company coming your way!" she said jerking a finger over her should at the party of men who were aggressively questioning someone.

The smile slipped from his lips and was replaced by the look of impossibility, as Low came to realize who those men were. He had seen them before, coming after good men trying to do a job and make an honest living. "Gausu de!" he said under his breath. "How long?" he asked as panic slipped into his voice.

The woman took a quick glance behind her quickly. "Not long, gotta go!" she said before cutting the transmission as one of them seemed to take interest in her now and was approaching rather rapidly.

Low took a moment to ponder the situation and rubbed his head before slapping the hat on his thigh. "Gausu de!" he said much louder this time, he reached over and hit ships internal intercom. "Ellie, need you up here! We got trouble brew'n! Big trouble!" he said and closed the channel. He began pacing the small confine space in the cockpit waiting, he had hoped that they would have avoided them all together, or at least had a lot longer before they tracked him down. Obviously he had not given them enough credit. He could hear Ellie making her way towards the cockpit her urgent and determined foot falls getting closer and closer.

Ellie came thumping to a stop just inside the door, she looked him up and down and instantly knew something was wrong as he had that look. "What is it?"

He pointed to the image that was now frozen on the screen. "Miller & Lowrey". His face was a bit pale. "They sent redeemers!"

"Redeemers?" she asked.

He shook his head. "We need to leave..." he said dropping back into the pilots seat. "They are vicious contract killers, they will stop at nothing to bring a wayward soul to justice! Or at least what Justice the company is paying for anyhow." he glanced over the controls and system stats. "I'm sorry Ellie, didn't think it would be this soon, or these people coming after me, if I had known I would have steered clear." he glanced over at her, there was clearly panic and fear in his eyes. "We gotta go!"


TAG: Ellie

Location: Jenny Wren, Cockpit

As she stood there taking in the look on his face, a wild rush came over her and a giddy laugh slipped out. With a smirk she replied, "Let them come, we'll give them a run for their money. Last I checked, everyone was on board, so get us out of here. We haven't got a job at the moment, so take us somewhere we can get fuel and supplies, but somewhere low profile."

Ellie slapped his good shoulder lightly and said with a sparkle in her eye, "Looks like we get to give someone hell together again, Old Man!"

She made for the corridor and called back over her shoulder, "I'm going to make sure everything is buttoned up downstairs, let the rest of the crew know we're leaving."

He blinked as she seemed to take that like a micrometeorite off a bow baffle plate. He opened his mouth to say something but she was already out the door and out of sight. At least she was taking it well and took the serious need to depart at heart. He turned back to the console, and pulled up the exterior camera's on the ship, and began warming the engines as he dropped into his chair.

He took a moment and pulled the headset on that was dangling off a bracket at the top of one of the consoles nearby. He cleared his throat and depressed the key. "Ladies and gentifolk, this is your pilot speaking, where getting the hell out of dodge and in a triple quick like hurry so stow yer gear and get ready for a burn!" he keyed the communications system back off.

He began queuing up the Navigational system and looking at the local system, then his eyes fell on the fuel gauge. They didn't have much since they had only been here less than a day they had not taken the time to replenish stocks and fuel. He glanced at the various planets, moons, and stations in the Red Sun belt and shook his head a little dismayed. "Harvest it is!" he said under his breath starting to set the course.

Reaching over he keyed the communications channel for the dock master. "Control this is the Jenny Wren, requesting urgent departure!" he said.

There was a spike in static for a second and then a voice called back. "Standby Jenny Wren." the man's voice was rushed.

He hit the transmit button again. "Repeat, Urgent Departure requested. I'm afraid this cannot wait!" he repeated with a bit more edge.

"Stand by Jen... " his voice suddenly cut off in a gurgle. Someone was handling the microphone heavy handed as it sounded as if someone was running sand paper across it. Then a new voice came through, very loud, and very clear.

"Low, is that you?"

His breath caught in his throat as he went to respond, but nothing came out.

"You ol' rascal that is you over there isn't it!" He said, his voice was excited. "I got order Low. Your coming with us back to the boss. He want's words with ya!" there was a round of laughter form several other voices in the background.

Low looked around the cockpit, it wasn't like him to feel panic, but he knew this man's reputation. His eyes immediately found the ships air tight reading and saw just as they went red to green. His hand jammed the docking clamp and mooring release with such force the thing cracked under the pressure, and he felt the ship immediately lurch as it came free of the grasp of the station.

"Daryl.." Low said as he turned back and gripped the flight yolk in both hands.

"Yeah low? Oh Low, why did you go and do that!" he said, his tone going from entertainment to annoyance int he same breath.

"Go to hell!" Low said, and jammed the throttle forward, and the ship lurched ahead surprising even him, he rolled the ship so quickly his stomach lurched. "You tell the boss the same!" he brought the vessel around and aligned it with the first leg of the three leg course that would take them to Harvest, they wouldn't get much of a head start but enough for them to figure things out, fuel included.

"You do this and our next meeting wont be so friendly!" the voice called, he could hear the air whistle through clenched teeth.

Low reached over and pushed the other throttle up giving them a good twenty second burn of the main drive, the vessel sped easily along, and with a flick of a finger cut off the long stream of explicit that came pouring over the communications system. Low hated running, but it wasn't time to end things with those people. Soon, but not now. He watched as the glow of the burn died out. It would be a while before the second leg, until then he throttled all the engines back to idle to help conserve fuel, and set the autopilot and leaned back in the chair. He had brought trouble to the Jenny, and he was going to do his best to keep that from catching up to them until they were ready.

TAG-O-liciuos to whomever... 8-)

Location: Jenny Wren, Cockpit

Low nearly jumped out of his boots when Ellie's voice suddenly called out over the intercom. "We got some space between us and that Station yet Low?"

He glanced over at the sensor board showing local traffic, and the large blip that was very quickly receding in their aft. For a moment, and only for a moment he was certain he saw another blip depart along the same path. But he shook his head when it didn't show up gaining. He reached over and flipped the switch on the communication center. "Yup, tis in our baffles now. Going to ride this course for a bit and do a course adjustment and another quick burn to try and throw off any pursuit if any!" there was a ting of relief in his voice.

He waited to see if she was going to reply, but he figure she might be busy settling the crew and accounting for anything that might have broke during the sudden departure.

He flipped the switch and settled back into the chair, his eyes going back to the sensor screen. "Need to see about getting a longer range sensing system." he muttered. He stood abruptly and glanced at the timer on the navigation console which told him how long they had to the next turn and burn. He nodded, and headed aft toward the galley, he needed to put something in his stomach to help calm his nerves, mattered not if it was food or drink at this point. Anything would do.

Location: Jenny Wren, heading aft..

Low stepped out of the cockpit and was heading on towards the galley when his nose met something scrumptious. The smell coming from the Galley was divinely and familiar. He stepped through the doors of the cock pit slowly allowing the smell to guide him down the short way to the Galley. He stopped abruptly nearly running into Kitsune as he was making his way forward with a plate and utensil. "That is a mighty fine aroma you've got comin'n from that Kitchen, and that by god looks amazing." he said pointing to the plate.

Kitsune held it out to him. "Damn right it is!" he said.

"Thank ya kindly." Low said taking the plate in both hands with a sort of reverence. He held the plate aloft so that he could put eyes full on it, his mouth watered in anticipation. "Where in the verse did you come up with this, its almost too good to be true. You spike'n the hooch on this thing?" he asked eyeing the man playfully.

Kitsune grinned and nodded. "Damn, ya got me!" he clinched his chest in mocking shock.

Low smiled, and nodded. "Thank ya kindly again, this should be a treat. Need to get back to the stick though, got a turn and burn coming up soon. But I'm sure going to enjoy this, nice and slow!" he said as he turned.

Kitsune followed. "Where are we heading?" he asked.

Low stepped back into the cockpit, and dropped gently into his seat setting the plate down on an unoccupied space on the console. "Very brief stop at Harvest, we'll figure out where were going from their. Got some people with some special interest's after us so were needing to loose them but got no fuel. And we can take a breath and stock up for the next leg of the journey. I reckon you'd be able to find some things to augment the ships stores on Harvest, supposed to be one of those shiny agricultural communities." Low stopped long enough to peel a fork full of quail and the risotto into his mouth. He began to chew and was met with an explosion of flavor, he closed his eyes savoring the moment. "That's good. Real good!"

Location: Jenny Wren, Cockpit

Low smiled and plucked the credits one at a time. "Music to my ears, thank you very much." he said stuffing them away in a pocket. "I don't know about having lost my touch or not, there was a time when I could probably fly one of those gas guzzling scrap heaps we flew during the war through the eye of a sewing needle in a hurricane. Not so sure of that these days." he said glancing down at his hands, one of them trembling slightly. "I manage though I suppose."

His eyes found the stars again as he turned to face forward. "Yeah. I don't know how some people could settle on places like Harvets, rolling hills, all the green, all that hard work." he said leaning back in his chair folding his hands behind his head. "I mean look at that." He nodded towards the vista in front of them. "That's freedom! Sweet, deadly freedom!"

Location: Jenny Wren, Cockpit


Liam smiled, it had been some time since he was this comfortable or happy. It was great to be flying with Ellie again. "I'm certain it will be a spell before I decide to retire, but this would be a great place to do it. Out here in the stars, so much fighting over rocks and dust. I don't need that kind of negativity in my life."

"You put any thought's in to where you wanna go after our brief stop over at Harvest?" he asked he turned hearing someone approaching.

Kitsune was coming down the hallway towards the bridge. "Huh," he watched the man with curiosity as his face seemed to indicate something was a bit off. "Bringing Desert?" he asked hopefully but noted that his hands were empty, he turned to Address Ellie, and Low waited for the other shoe to drop.

Location: Jenny Wren, Cockpit

Low blinked staring at Kitsune for a long moment. "Timmy?" he exchanged a glance with Ellie. "Isn't he your grease monkey?" he glanced down at the Navigational readouts and noted there location and the station they left behind then looked back at Ellie. "We would have enough fuel to get back if we turn back real quick." he watched Ellie intently knowing she had a tough decision to make.

Location: Jenny Wren, Cockpit

"We can't afford to risk not having enough, we're closer to Harvest. Let's land and pick up the fuel and supplies. In the meantime, Low," she looked to her old friend, probably the only one in the room she knew could see right through her brave facade, and said, "Send a wave to the station, see if we can't get Timmy located. If he's there, they should be able to find him and we can get him word to sit tight until we can get back from Harvest."

Low nodded, he never liked leaving someone behind. "Aye," he said and settled back into his chair. "I'm sorry Ellie." he reached over and keyed up the communications array, and started composing a message adding a Spoof program to the outgoing mail to mask whom the wave was actually coming from.

=============================================================
TO: That Station we never named, Security Department
FROM: Alliance Cruiser Alestra, Security Department
Subject: Timothy Heart't

We are attempting to confirm the presence of one Timothy Heart't as he is wanted for questioning in regards to a recent event that took place on the planet Greenleaf. We request that you look into this right away and respond as quickly as possible. Do not approach or detain, confirmation only.

Lieutenant Malcom McManis
Alliance Security
=============================================================

Low added the quick finishing touches to the fake wave, masking the Jenny's communication array information with that of a standard Alliance Communications array, and sent the fake traffic out in a quick burst transmission. "Wave sent, I spoofed it and sent it to Station Security via an Alliance message which I'm hoping will motivate them to locate Timmy but not approach or detain him. Hopefully they can find him for us or where he might have gotten off too."

Location: Jenny Wren, Cockpit

Low watched as Ellie stalked off, he knew better than to follow her when she got real quiet like that. Had sort of a look to her that just said, 'dont'. He closed his eyes for a moment, and turned back to the windows. He sat there for some time contemplating things as time ticked by, another burn which would use up the majority of their fuel, they would have enough to land, barely. He shook his head, "Never should have worked for those bastards." he muttered to himself. "I know they were trouble from the get go."



Not too terribly long ago on the planet Greenleaf...



Low stumbled down the stairs to the bar, he could feel the effects of a long night of drinking still toying with his senses. It had been a long and exciting evening which included at least one good brawl. He didn't feel that much at the time but it certainly was getting his attention now. His ribs were tender, and his face felt a bit swollen. "Leaving so soon?" a voice called quietly from the top of the stairs.

Turning back to stare up the stairs, he spotted one of the ladies of the house who was still scantly clad. "Time for me to go." he said, his speech was still a bit slurred.

"Its the middle of the night, you can't go!" she said sternly.

"Never-the-less, my ship leaves bright and early and I've got to be on it!" he said tipping his hat and nearly falling over for the efforts. "Thank you for a lovely evening." he said after composing himself.

She watched him head for the door, and just as he was about to step through the swinging doors two men appeared and pushed there way into the room, slowly pushing Low back into the room, both had stern expressions. "Not so fast." one of the two said.

"You didn't pay up boy!" another man said, his voice sounded raspy as he too entered slowly through the doors. And far too dramatically for Low's liking.

"No one said I had to pay. She offered to let me stay with her after defending her honor!" Low said waving up at the woman who was watching them from the top of the stairs. "Did ya hon?" Low didn't expect the incoming fist, and even if he was sober he wasn't sure he could have dodged it anyhow. He spun around, and while he physically stopped the room continued to spin as he fell back into the two large men behind him. He could feel them rummaging through his things.

"He ain't got nothing boss." the man on his right said.

"Really?"

"Spent it all last night." Low spat slowly pulling himself upright with a bit of help from the two gorilla's holding him in place.

The man looked him up and down, the smiled. "Take his guns!"

Faster than the man could blink a pistol was leveled between his eyes. "Nope!" Low stuttered.

"What do you mean nope!" the man asked.

"I Don't believe I stuttered." Low said with a smile. "Nope, your not taking my guns."

The man burst into laughter as did his two friends, and it went on for a long moment. Finally composing himself he looked Low straight in the eyes. "Get that gun out of my face boy, do you know who I am?"

"Nope, not a clue. Take a few steps back if you know what's good for you!" Low said, the slur slipping from his speech, and an all too serious tone replacing it. "You'll be a lead cushion otherwise."

"A lead cushion..." the man burst out laughing again. "Kill him!" he said suddenly with all seriousness.

Low didn't skip a beat, rolling away from the two large men behind him, his first round found its target in the thigh of the one that was previously on his right as that was the direction of his spin, he had to duck the other as he swung a massive knife, his second round found its purchase on the guys bicep wielding the knife, and then leveled between the mans eyes who instructed them to assault him. He blinked a couple of times noting he was standing there still unarmed, staring back with a smile.

"Very good." the man said, "Very well done indeed. I've seen Linus here cleave a mans head clean off with one swing of that thing. You've got a pair, that's for certain. I could use someone with your talents." he said frowning as he looked at the two stricken men who were in considerable pain. "Back to the house with ya, get those wounds fixed up!" he said jerking a thumb back towards the door.

"Work for you? Your an asshole, why would I work for someone who blatantly holds life in such regard! Hell no!" he said lowering his weapon. "I just want to move on... crap!" he said noting the time. "You bastards made me miss my flight!"

"Okay, let me rephrase that, you'll start in two days or I'm afraid you'll not like the alternative. No one turns us down I'm afraid, besides the pay is good and the rules are lax. Come check us out tomorrow, I'll show you around the business, acquaint you with the rules. You've got a debt to work off anyhow, and if you come work for us we can take care of that for you in short order."

Low slowly slipped the his revolver back into its holster. "Guess I don't have much choice."

"Oh you certainly do, you could make a lead cushion out of me as you put it, and then run. But believe when they send the enforcers you wont get far." he said offering a smile. "Besides what have you got to loose Liam, your broke twice over, you owe money to a few rough customers." he held up a hand. "Yes I know who you are."

"You set me up?" Low asked, his cheeks flushing red with anger.

The man shook his head, "You could look at it that way or... you could call it aggressive recruiting!" he shrugged. "Its a win, win either way." the man turned and started to pass through the doors but stopped. "Miller & Lowery, that's were your meeting me. Tomorrow first thing, don't show up and the dog's will be coming."

"Thought you said I didn't start for two days?" Low said.

"You don't, just be there!" he said and disappeared into the night leaving low standing there to ponder.

"Your screwed, in more ways than one. Might as well come back up!" the woman said at the top of the stairs. "Still have a few hours." she said as she too disappeared back into the room. He shrugged and headed back up the stairs, a lot more sober than he had been but just as jaded.


Back to the future we go, a short distance from the Planet Harvest.


The blue and green marble that made up the planet Harvest loomed in the distance, but it was coming fast. Soon they would put into orbit then down to the planet they would go. Low stood near the front of the cockpit drinking from a mug of steaming liquid. Low always thought on of the best parts about flying around the galaxy in a space ship was this right here. Approaching a planet, starting out as a pin prick in the black verse to something amazing, and this was no different.

The Marble of a planet grew steadily in the windows as they coasted towards the planet, low could feel the change in the craft. It was subtle but you could feel if you spent enough time on a space ship, the pull of a planets gravity, especially when your drive systems were in standby. They had enough fuel to land, but he was going to be on fumes so he was going to save them what he could for that landing, and figured the approach which might be hot would allow them to save some extra fuel for the burn in.

Low settled into the chair at the pilots console, and reached for the intercom. "Ladies and Gentlemen this is your pilot speak'n, we'll be putting in at Harvest here in a short time, gonna ask that ye start securing everything you can including yourself as this is likely to be a bit turbulent. Estimating about fifteen minutes at present speed to atmo entry." he said and clicked the intercom off.

Location: Jenny Wren, Cockpit

Low stood watching the planet loom closer and closer in the windows outside, he knew he would need to take the controls here soon so he finished the last of his coffee. “This should be fun!” he said to himself and crossed the few steps over to the pilot’s seat. “Maybe more fun for me than the others. Hope them hull plates are in good order.” He murmured to himself.

He took the controls as the faint telltale signs of atmospheric re-entry started to show on the nose of the craft, he flipped the switch shutting down the autopilot and gripped the controls a bit tighter. His fingers starting to play across the console in front of him. He knew he was going to need most if not all the speed reduction he could muster. The craft began to tremble as it started to break into Harvest’s Thermosphere.

The hull temperature light flickered on to indicate an increase in temperature was occurring, then a master caution blinked to life indicating he was overspeed on entry. He keyed into the helm the sequence and time for a short firing of the breaking thrusters which only moments after roared to life causing the craft to lurch forward as it decelerated suddenly, then the trembling increased as did the plasma fire growing outside.

As they broke into the Mesosphere the craft started to shake and tremble, and several warning lights flickered to life, but so far nothing catastrophic had occurred. “Come on Jenny, bring us home.” It was about then he heard someone enter the bridge, he was certain that it was Ellie and confirmed that when she settled into the chair next to him.

Low offered her a sheepish grin and then went back to the task at hand, there was another lurch as the vessel broke through the planets stratosphere, the hull temperature was rising rapidly, it was about then he began making his first speed reduction turn rolling the craft about fifteen degrees to port, and pulled up on the nose of the craft to give them some drag and start spreading the heat out across the hull. He watched the hull temperature gauge rise and as it got to the point of causing the master caution light to start blinking and an alarm start insistently beeping at him did he roll the craft over onto its starboard side.

The plasma fire started to slowly die out as the air became thicker and thicker on the outside, and he continued to dance the craft back and forth effectively carving a snake like smoke trail through the atmosphere. They were well far enough down now and though it felt like an eternity, he leveled the craft and looked over at Ellie. “We going to the main hub or someplace out of the way?”

[mention]Kitsune[/mention] [mention]Ellie[/mention]

Location: Jenny Wren, Cockpit

Low gave a nod, and glanced over at his communications station and sure enough there was a blinking message there. He keyed the message, and fed the coordinates into the ships navigational computer, and noted the landing site. "Easy, Peasy." he said and started to bring the nose around to the heading taking a moment to check their air speed and altitude. He set about calculating the math on their rate of decent, airspeed, and distance to the site and nodded a few times as the numbers kind of worked themselves out.

He glanced over as he once again leveled off the craft in the right direction. "Might wanna strap in. You know, just in case!" he said while he likewise snaked himself into his restraining harness and fished the belt clips into their places. "Gonna be a bit hot on this one, but I think I can get her where we need to go."

The landscape grew closer and closer, what was undefined started to grow into pin pricks of trees and things, and eventually started to get larger and larger. He once again queued the breaking thrusts up bringing them online, then deployed the speed breaks, causing the craft to lurch forward and shudder. Slowly applying any flaps the craft had, he wrestled with the stick for a moment then dipped the nose descending rapidly.

In the distance a property came into view over the horizon, and quickly grew bigger in the windows, then without hesitating Low fired the ships breaking thrusters and pulled back hard on the stick, he held onto it tightly as the craft bucked and decelerated very suddenly. There was a sputtering sound as the engines fought for fuel, and then everything went quiet and seemed to hang as if the craft was floating.

Low reached over and slapped the landing configuration keys, and then fired the ships dorsal thrusters and the nose came down. The property a short distance away but the Jenny struck land, digging in hard and lurched as the ship hit and planted itself, felt as if she might lift up on her nose, then the rear of the craft came down, a cloud of dust bellowing out from around the ship.

Low let out the breath he was holding. "Shit..."

Tag: ALL

Location: Jenny Wren, Cockpit

Low slowly stood up as the craft settled itself, he took his hat off and wiped his brow. "That went better than I expected honestly." he said moving over to the station behind Ellie. He flipped a switch which brought up the crude but effective damage control status display. "No structural damage so that's a blessing in its own right. No hull damage either. Hot damn!" he said with a smile. Then moved slowly over to the pilots station and took a look at the status lights, master caution was still lit, but that was likely just due to the fact the engines shut down after running out of fuel. He flipped a couple of switches shutting down the rest of the engine mechanisms and fuel pumps to secure the ships thrusters and main engines. Then took stock of the rest of the mess.



He reached over and pushed the lever to retract the vessels flaps, and noted that all seemed to return to their normal positions without a problem, he frowned when he flipped the lever for the ships speed break and it didn't go green, an angry yellow indicator came on under the red indicating there was some kind of trouble. "Great... have to go out and take a look at the speed break's but looks like were otherwise unscathed."

Settling back down he began securing the rest of the ships flight sensors, and equipment leaving only passive scanning systems on so they would present less of a sensor target themselves. He stopped as he was about to shut down the communications console and noticed there was a message waiting. Must have picked it up when they were on their way down, he was just so busy with the task at hand that he didn't notice. He queued up the message and read.

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FROM: Vegas Station Thing like place, Security Division.
TO: Alliance Cruiser Alestra, Security Department
Subject: Timothy Heart't

Unable to locate subject Timothy Heart't on the station after an all spaces check of the station. Witnesses say he was last seen being taken aboard a vessel, it was unfortunately unregistered, last course was unspecified when last seen on sensors. They did seem to be in a hurry when they left and took a course similar to the Jenny Wren which burned out of here after breaking from docking.

END Message.
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"Gāisǐ de" Low spat.

"What, what is it?" Ellie asked standing to move over to see the message he was looking at.

"Ellie, I think my pursuers have Timmy. Station security says the last time anyone saw him is when he was being taken aboard an unregistered ship which followed our course out of the system. You can almost be sure its them..." he shook his head. "There after me, so they..." he stopped talking for a moment. "They are a rowdy bunch, but they likely wont hurt him. They will most likely use him as leverage to try and get me to turn myself over to them."


[mention]Ellie[/mention]

Location: Jenny Wren, Cockpit

Ellie stood thoughtfully looking at the message, trying to inwardly quell the sense of dread she felt rising. She drew a slow, deep breath and straightened up to look Low in the eye, "We don't know any of that for sure. He could be taken by anyone. We'll find him. In the meantime, he's made of stronger stuff than he looks." She wished she felt as confident as she tried to sound about finding him.

"Before we can do that though, we need to get Jenny flying again. Which means we need fuel, so let's go." She turned and led the way out of the cockpit and to the stairs down to the catwalk, inquiring over her shoulder as she moved, "Did you break anything in that landing?"

Low nodded, "Nothing we can't fix with a bit of brute force, speed breaks saying its broken most likely just need to get out and physically tweek them a bit and they should return to normal." he followed her as she headed aft. "Just thanking my lucky star's that was the only thing that appears broken."

She came upon Teddy laughing on the stairs and peered down to see what was so funny. Kitsune seemed to be brushing himself off and looking at a bottle of something or other. Lifting an eyebrow she asked, "Want to join us planetside, Teddy?" and went on past him to meet up with Kitsune in the cargo hold.

"Alright Kit, it's your connection, so how about you take lead?"

Low took stock of the various messes about the cargo hold and nodded thanking they didn't damage too much both inside and out.

Looking back over his shoulder "Yea sure" heading over to the ramp and opening both sets of doors. The ramp however lowered till it got to a 25 degree incline. "Huh" kit examined and headed up the ramp to check it out. They appeared to have landed in a pasture and not a refueling depot. a few small streams traveled around the jenny, the ground was pure mud. Shaking his head and cursing to him self he turned back to the rest.

"Hope you're not wearing your good cloths." Which Kit was wearing some. A type of cow approached the ship, clearly it was not afraid. Kit saw this and replied back "good news I think we found a ride" though he knew they would not be riding a cow.

Slowly walking to the edge of the ramp, he glances around with a bit of a grin. "Odd how some things just work out..." he pointed outside the craft. "Nasty but that's probably what saved us from external damage and cushioned that drop. Good and lucky I'd say." he glanced over at Kitsune. "Where we off too?"

Location: Jenny Wren, Cargo Hold
[mention]Ellie[/mention] [mention]Kitsune[/mention] [mention]Teddy[/mention]

Location: The Dwelling of the Darkness, Fuel Depot

Low watched the rest of the exchange in relative silence, slowly surveying the area. It was pretty wide open for long stretches, he didn't care entirely much for such wide open spaces usually meant it was easy for people to see you, shoot you from a distance. The conversation of weapons and exotic ones at that did catch his ear, which meant they should be expecting anything while on this visit to the planet. While he was somewhat excited to be doing something for the greater good, he had started questioning at least in his head if they should be really encouraging or working with this man, but they were desperate for fuel.

Things started to stand out to Low, the three ladies, this man called Darkness. Something didn't feel like it was adding up to him, the hair on the back of his neck was starting to bristle. He narrowed his eyes and began to survey the distance. He was certain he had seen something but his mind wasn't quite sure what it was.

Low moved closer to the Mule, now leaning against the side watching. Looking for a glimpse of whatever it was he thought he saw, 'Your seeing things' his voice echoed in his head. That itching feeling didn't go away. He was clearly preoccupied with this, all the conversation around him faded into the background until all he could hear was the rhythmic breathing.

He was scanning, when his eyes stopped catching just a hint of a dust cloud not far from a Tree in the distance. "You expecting any other company Dark?" he asked slowly pulling the rifle from his shoulder, slipping a scope from a jacket pocket he slipped it into the socket spinning it and locking it into place. Flipping the caps open on the scope and using the hood of the Mule to steady himself he took a glance through the scope in the distance hoping to catch a look at what was out there.

Location: The Dwelling of the Darkness, Fuel Depot

Low stared intently through his scope scanning the ridge line in the distance. "Whatever it is, its not moving slowly. But it's putting up very little debris. So its not a hover or grav vehicle. Could be on foot, or in a rolling vehicle. Moving too fast to be on foot, heading..." he waited for a moment for another drift of dust to rise, and he indicated away. "I can't see anyone though. They know the property well enough to keep hidden." he said glancing over at Darkness. "You have this problem regularly?" he resumed looking through the scope, but began scanning down the ridge the other direction just in case this was a decoy.

"Hard to say, I've done my fair share of righting wrongs, and in doing so rubbed people wrong in the process." he said squinting to look into the distance himself. "Probably just came looking at what came down out of the sky." he said jerking a thumb into the distance at the Jenny.

Low nodded. "Let's hope that's the case. Last we need is more trouble." Low said.

Location: Somewhere on Dark's Property.

Low nodded, and lowered his rifle. "Yeah, that sounds like as good a plan as any." he slipped it into the vehicle in a safe but handy place. "I don't like being out in the open like this anyhow!" He glanced over at this Danny Dark'o regarding him with a leery eye as he slid into the drivers seat. "Thanks for the hospitality." he gave nod and a tug on his hat, then did the same towards his companions. "Ladies."

Glancing at the others he waited till they all mounted up, and started up the engine. He couldn't shake the nagging feeling that this was not going to go well. Time was of the essence and this random watchful eye was not a good omen, spys never equaled good things. He waited a moment letting the vehicle warm up, then hit the gas sending them on their trek back to Jenny.

Location: Jenny Wren, Mule

Low nodded, and glanced over at Kitsune. "Looks like its you and me." he said backing the Mule back down the cargo ramp and pointed it int he general direction he knew the town in question would be. "What kind of trouble do you think we'll find when we get there?" he asked as he peeled the thing out slinging mud in their wake.

"Don't rightly know." Kitsune responded holding on as the sped away from the Jenny.

Low nodded. "Missing persons, that could be indicative of a larger problem here on the planet or the recent addition of a new group that's into that sort of human trafficking. I don't like people who meddle in the lives of others forcefully. I supposes that's why I joined the war effort on the Brown coats side." he turned the Mule down a dirt road, and increased speed.

Low hazard a glance behind them watching the Jenny grow smaller the further they moved away, he could see no one in pursuit or moving towards the Jenny in their wake but still something felt off. "I don't like this." he muttered to himself turning his attention back to the road. He could already see the town taking shape in the distance. It wouldn't take long for them to arrive.

Location: Harvest, Clint

Low watched as Kitsune sauntered towards the door, and was then suddenly naked. He blinked as if he should be surprised, but then realized it wasn't so much surprise as it was the light reflecting off his stark white buttocks flapping in the breeze, a grin slowly spread as he let out a soft chuckle in response. Slowly he glanced over at the bartender who was currently face palming. "I can't go anywhere with this guy without him loosing his cloths it seems."

Pushing off the bar after a quick tip of the hat to the bartender he slowly followed his companion out onto the street, glancing around. A ting of satisfaction ran through him as he watched in shock as the onlookers from the safety of their windows or doors could be seen shying away. There was even a cat call from someone unseen. "Lost your cloths eh? Get something out of it I hope?" he said as he made his way to the Mule. "Hope it was worth it, your going to end up with one hell of a sunburn on your junk before we get back to the ship."

Location: Harvest, Client Saloon

Low watched as Kitsune strode back into the bar with his cloths back on, and back to the bar. He gave a shrug and pushed back through the doors but only just so to keep an eye on his friend. He watched as the others present went back to paying them no mind. He saw him walk up to the bartender and lean into the bar.

Taking a moment himself he took a glance back outside for any activity, just the usual lookie loo's. Nothing overtly threatening. The street was still clear, it was as if a group of bandits had rolled into town and everyone took to hiding. It was not the exact reception he had hoped they would have received but it spoke volumes to the state of the small town.

He turned back to the Saloon and continued holding up the bar by the beam he had taken to leaning against, one hand resting across the hilt of his fire arm, the other dangling at his side. "This ain't right." he murmured to himself.

Location: Harvest, Near the town of Clint


Low watched from under the brush as Kitsune made his way up to the homestead, and his pulse quickened when the door opened, and a double barrel could be seen poking out at Kitsune, though it was hard to make out what kind with the backlight, he squinted and saw that he had it well in hand. He shook his head and smiled. “That man could sell a pile of manure to a rich man as a skin cream I swear.” He said under his breath.

He slowly walked his eyes along the home, it was a well-appointed manor, something to be envied, and part of Low wondered how this man made his living and could afford something like this even on a dust ball farming community like Harvest. Then again not everyone was farmers that made it in life. He continued his eyes moving away from the home slowly scanning the area round.

He stopped as something caught his attention, and brought his scope up, flipping the cover on the end, and peered through. With a flick of his thumb he selected a higher magnification and slowly scanned the area, it was a patch of dust, with some foliage and he was certain signs of someone having met their demise some time ago, but the dried bloody patch was clearly signs that this family knew how to protect their home. He nodded and flipped the scope back to its original setting and settle it down.

“I really have to pee.” He said unconsciously to himself.

He saw something else that caught his attention, and turned his eyes skyward, a streak of light was burning across the sky, it was a long way off, but it was certainly a ship burning in. He frowned inwardly hoping that it wasn’t more trouble. He again returned his attention back to the house and the surrounding area. Minutes went by, and finally Kitsune emerged from the home, unscathed.

“Thank goodness for small favors.” He said, looking down the sights of his weapon at those who were gathered, this time they were far less aggressive which told him that things at least went somewhat well.

He watched with mild curiosity, trying very hard not to bust out laughing as he watched his companion perform the most erratic and strange…’maneuvers’ he had seen. Until he finally got up and slowly started walking towards his line of travel meeting up with him sometime later.

“Does the jumping and rolling help?” he asked, there was a hint of a playful tone in his voice.

“You have no idea.” Kit said giving him an look of annoyance.

“Get what you needed?” he asked regarding him for a moment as they walked back towards the mule.

“And then some.”

Low caught a glint of something in the moon, and leaned a bit spotting the culprit. “You got something stuck there.” He said.

“I knooooo owwww!!” he said as Low quickly pulled the needle from his backside.

“Looked painful.” He said and held the syringe out in front of him.

Kit snatched it quickly from his hands. “Fuck you mate.” As he tossed it aside.

Low chuckled this time, and slipped his rifle into the Mule, and then mounted the vehicle slipping into the driver’s seat. “Back to the Ship?” he asked as he unlocked the parking break and started powering it up.

Kitsune nodded as he dropped into the passenger seat. “Yup, we got work to do.”

“Why do I get the distinct feeling that this is going to be more interesting than we initially thought.” He said turning the vehicle around heading back in the direction they came. Once back on the road, he sent them flying down the road back towards the Jenny.

Location: Planet Harvest, Jenny Wren, Galley

Kit and Low had disappeared to get ready for whatever their next steps were to be and Ellie left Graham and Teddy to watch the entrances. She was feeling anxious with the way things had gone for them so far; it was beginning to feel like a no win kind of day. Retrieving a glass of water she settled down at the dining table to wait until one or both were ready to let her in on the details that had developed in town.

After a short time Low strolled back into the Galley with his go bag slung over his shoulder. “Ellie!” he said spotting her. He crossed the room dropping his bag into another chair before settling down at the table. “Did you know that Kitsune has a giant mole on his ass?” he held up a hand. “Nevermind, you don’t want to know that story I’m sure. It was a busy day! I think I might need a drink.” his eyes suddenly had that shell shock look to them, before shaking his head and coming back to reality. “Jesus…”

“Actually, yeah. I mean the first time we met him he was naked as the day he was born, so… I saw more of him than I ever wanted,” she made a face, and tried to shake the memory. “I hope he accomplished more than flashin’ people out there today?”

Low nodded. “Yeah, it was essentially his way of getting the locals to trust him or something. I don’t know he lost like hell at poker, and I’m pretty sure it was intentional. But he was able to shake free some knowledge from the bartender. Seems like there is some considerably shady stuff happening on this place.”

Ellie nodded thoughtfully, tracing a finger along the grain in the wood table as she considered this, “Could’ve guessed as much with a sheriff like they’ve got. Any intel on the missin’ girl crop up?”

“All I know is it’s worse than we were led to believe and as Kit said, we’ve got a job to do to get further into this mess.” he shrugged. “Kind of on this ride with no brakes and a broken steering wheel.”

Leaning back in her chair, Ellie gave Low a serious look, “Shoot straight with me, what’s your gut tellin’ you here Old Man? Are we in over our heads?” If there was anyone she trusted to assess the situation it was Low, he always seemed to take in more than most other people.

“When aren't we in over our heads?” he said with a chuckle. “No, i think we're pretty close, but I don’t think this is anything we can’t handle as long as we play it safe. Or as safe as can be. I think Kitsune knows what he’s doing and I’m pretty sure if things get messy I can get us out.” he regarded her for a moment. “Were in a bind here, no fuel, no money. Can’t say that doing a job even if it is to learn more about what’s happening here isn’t about the only prospect we have right now. We don’t have a lot of time to spare with certain interest tailing us either.”

She stood up and paced back and forth, “I really don’t like feeling backed into a corner. This feels all wrong.” She faced him again, crossing her arms, “Just promise me whatever the plan is, you’ll be careful. I don’t want to lose anymore crew members today. Especially you…” she paused trying to decide if this was the right point to speak her mind about something that had been rolling around in her brain.

He regards her for a moment, “Something on your mind? I mean other than our situation?”

She sits down again, “I’ve been thinking that I need a First Mate. I know it’s been a long time since the war, but I can’t think of anyone else I would trust enough in the position. And the thought of Kitsune taking charge if I was out of commission is downright terrifying. So what do you say?”

“Even with all the trouble I’ve got following me? You sure?”

“We’ve always had trouble ridin’ our tails Low, we never let that stop us before.”

He nods. “Fair point. And your right, Kit in charge is kind of a frightening prospect. You might say I’m doing the rest of the verse a favor by preventing such a thing from coming to pass.” he smirked. “We gotta come up with something other than first mate though, it sounds stuffy.”

For the first time that day, she found herself laughing, “Well you can pick your own damn title then.” nShe glanced up as Kitsune came strolling into the room and said with a smirk, “Speak of the devil.”

“Alright got our way in.” Kit said as he pulled up a chair and sat at the table with them.

The three of them discussed Kit’s plan in great detail, going over and memorizing everything.

As they finished up and were about to head to their prospective quarters for the night Low asked “Where did you pick my cover name form?”

“Well it needs to be natural, something that if someone says you will respond to. General rule of thumb is use your real first name, and I worked in Low too, this way no matter what you will hear it and respond.”

“Alright, just checking, But don't think I look like a Lowkowski.”

“Pfffft says you….well maybe with some Irish in ya.”

Low just shrugged a little and the two parted ways.

Location: Jenny Wren, Lows Cabin
The next morning...

Low stood in his cabin staring at his face in the mirror of his pull-out lavatory and frowned, his stubble has started to take on a mind of its own, he was starting to look a good deal disheveled. He picked up the electric trimmer and set it to his usual setting and began running the vibrating device over his face, the hair falling about the sink in small waves as it swooped across his cheeks. “If your going to go do this thing, you should at least look halfway decent doing it.” He said to himself running a hand across his chin.

He could hear his fathers voice ringing out from the depths of his memory. “Boy, you’d best look good doing whatever you do. If you want someone to remember ye, remember ye clean. The dirt lives with the dirt, and you should never be in the dirt.”

He ran the humming device over his face catching stray hairs, he didn’t really have time for the full triple S’s but he would at least get the shave and deposit to the bank of porcelain down. He figured that he would get the chance to shower at some point when they got where they were going.

Low pulled his shirt back on, and his suspenders, then proceeded to strap on his Buscadero. He turned back to the mirror as he slowly settled his put on his Gambler on his head running his fingers around the rim before finger gunning the mirror. He grinned to himself at the hilarity of it, he wasn’t a vain man, but it was his own personal almost inside joke.

He took a moment to check his ammunition situated around his belt, and then reloaded his Colt 1873, dropping it gently into its home, the slight zip of metal on leather a welcome greeting. He eyed best friend, his Lever action rifle laying across his bed, and gave a mournful look. “Sorry my friend, not a trip for you. Wheel men don’t usually carry artillery.” He said tipping his hat to it, “But you best your sweet lever action ass that I will be back for you!”

Low grabbed his go bag and headed out of the room and back towards the cargo bay.

LOCATION: Harvest, Somewhere in the city…

Low watched for a moment in the rear-view mirror as he slowly pulled away from their hotel, he felt as though the weight of the world had suddenly fallen on him and his companions with the revelation of how well protect this objective was. The gravity of the situation certain could be felt tugging them towards a possible sticky end, and not the good kind. He slowly brought the car to a stop at an intersection and waited for the traffic indicator to give him the go-ahead indicator, he hesitated a moment as he spotted a man staring at him from the opening of a home.

The man was clearly homeless, or at least he appeared to be as he tugged a jacket that was a bit too clean to match his dirty exterior and miserable look. He slowly stepped on the gas, watching him out of the corner of his eye as they passed. He shook his head and let out a breath he had not realized he had been holding. He was already getting jumpy and suspicious of things. The man could have clearly been a vagabond given a jacket by some generous soul, he didn’t seem overly aggressive, and didn’t pay him too much mind as he had passed.

“Cool your jets cowboy.” He said to himself mumbling. He thumbed the knob on the radio, and then pushed the scan frequency button and listened as a variety of music came through the speakers, although in terrible shape it helped to calm his nerves. He stopped on what he was certain was a Jazz station, and rolled the window down allowing the damp air to fill the car.

The night was just the right temperature he thought to himself as he continued cruising down the street. He noted that there were not many vehicles around, or at least out in the open. He suspected based on previous days that people kept them hidden away in garages of some kind. This vehicle was not difficult to find, and it was clearly boosted judging by the shoddy job done on the console.

“Amateur hour.” He said thumping the wheel to the music, it sounded to him more like big band music now, a cheery tune which echoed in the streets, it was soft enough not to be a burden, but enjoyable enough. He could hear it echo down alleyways as he drove on, he took note of a few that looked like promising ambush sites with the right diversion applied.

He spotted it, it was like seeing a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Not that he had ever really experienced that, but it was like magic. He pulled the car over and stopped staring across the street into the brightly lit windows. The sight beaconing him to come and visit. He turned off the car, and slowly climbed out and stood looking up and down the street. A quick glance at his watch told him how late it really was now but it didn’t matter. He crossed the street, his duster jacket whipping behind him, one hand on his hat as sudden breeze came on.

He passed through the doors without a second though and took a deep breath, his nose filling with the diner’s scent, it was amazing. After the last several hours in that hell hole they were calling a living establishment this was absolute paradise. He grinned to himself.

“Come on in, have a seat hun!” a middleaged woman called to him from behind the counter. “Coffee?” she asked holding up a pot of the dark steaming nectar of life.

“Yes Ma’am.” He said as he crossed to one of the stools in front of the bar, he slipped his hat off and set it on the counter next to him.

The woman set a mug down in front of him and filled it with the skill of a long time professional, not a drop was spared. “Cream n’ sugar?” she asked.

He nodded. “Please.” He said gripping the mug in both hands, it might have been warm but that feeling was just one that felt and reminded him so much of home. “Thank you!” he said as she pulled up the items from below the counter.

She smiled leaning on the counter, “Know what you want sweetheart?” she asked, then gave him a dubious look having spotted his sidearm. “Expecting trouble?” she asked quizzically standing back upright.

He offered her a warm smile as he stirred his coffee, “No ma’am.”

“You’re not much of a talker are ya?” she asked.

He shook his head, and chuckled. “Not at all. I enjoy a good conversation when the time is right. Guess I’ve just been doing my job too long.” He said with a shrug and took a drink from the mug, he savored it as it burned his lips and scalded the rough of his mouth just enough to remind him he could feel, and enough that it didn’t damage his ability to taste. “Good coffee!” he said saluting her with the mug. “Got a menu?”

She smiled and nodded. “Now I know your good liar.” She said producing a menu, a grin gracing her lips. “No one likes that swill.” She said shaking her head.

“Well if you’ve been drinking the sludge I’ve been drinking for the last day, you’d appreciate anything that at least has something close to the viscosity of water, or a liquid for that matter. This is the most amazing thing ever.” He said letting out a chuckle.

“I’ll have to take your word on that one Honey. Special is a patty melt, soup of the day is a tomato. Don’t get the tomato.” She said with a wink.

He nodded, and laughed again scanning through the menu. “This Turkey Sandwich, any good?” he asked looking up to gauge her reaction.

She nodded. “One of my favorites, those garlic and parm fries are pretty good to go with if you want to put a little on those shaggy bones of yours.” She said pointing at him accusingly almost with her ticket book.

“Sounds divine,” he said snapping closed the menu and handing it back to her.

“So what brings you to our fair neck of the woods?” she asked leaning again on the counter.

He shrugged. “Why does anyone come to the big city?”

An eyebrow rose out of curiosity, “Work, or love usually.”

He nodded. “What if it was both? I love my work.” He said offering a coy smile.

She laughed this time and nodded. “I suppose that is an option too. What do you do for work?” She asked.

“Imports and exports business run freight when I can.” He said and took another drink of the coffee. “Broker contracts when people have a dispute.”

“Sounds dangerous and exciting.” She said and turned as the bell from the kitchen rang and his food appeared. She picked it up and deposited it in front of him.

Low shrugged. “No more than most I suppose.” He said picking up the sandwich and took a bite. “Damn my partner might shoot me if he found out I was eating real food and he was stuck eating rations. Then again I’ve save da bit a coin.” He said taking another bite.

She chuckled. “Sometimes we have to take moments to enjoy one solitary and distinct moment for ourselves.”

“You moonlight as a Philosopher or wise woman on the side?” he asked poking fun at her.

She frowned and set the check down in front of him. “I see you will owe the till money in your future.” She said and laughed as she moved away to address a new customer who had just entered on the far side of the diner.

"And a seer apparently." he said with a smile. Low sat in quiet and enjoyed every bite, and every moment of that sandwich. That restaurant food while good was probably the blandest and expensive food he had eaten and something as simple as diner food spiked his spirits. He smiled inwardly at the thought and left enough money to pay for his meal and left a decent tip for the woman.

Low stood outside staring across the street at his car and allowing a moment to stretch his muscles he slowly made his way cross the street. The breeze occasionally picking up and whipping his duster around his knees. He got into the car and started it up and pulled out of his parking space heading down the street to finish his rounds.

He yawned heavily as he pulled back into his spot just down the street from their hotel and made his way back to his room. He took only a few moments to quietly update their diagram of the city with possible ambush points, and other points of interest, and possible pain points where they could get into trouble if this went down in the city. The time was drawing closer and closer.