[Cortex: Serenity] The Spicy Lady Out In The Black

[Lifeson]

Here's How it is:

Many cities on the Frontier planets were reduced to rubble by Alliance bombing during the war. Some of the planets remained under Alliance control with the signing of the peace treaty and were deemed “off-limits” to the unfortunate folk who used to live there, even those who once had homes and businesses. These areas were deemed “unsafe,” either from radiation or some other type of contamination. After hanging onto these planets for a number of years, Alliance forces have finally moved off some of these worlds and are now kindly permitting the inhabitants to return to try to salvage what they can of their past lives.

The planet Athens has hit hard. Many of its cities were bombed and left in ruins of varying states of decay. These are now being opened to former inhabitants. Folk are returning in droves, searching for lost goods and precious family heirlooms, whether they were the original owners or not.

Bowden, one of Amiri's contacts, has given him a tipoff to the grand reopening of Athens, spinning him tales of unclaimed riches and leftovers from the war, not to mention it'd be easy to get in due to the feds having their hands full with the amount of people coming back. The ship and her crew are in need of funds, and it sounds like there's some profit to be made amidst the ruins of war.

[TruorTupnm]

En route to Athens and gathered in the lounge, Captain Nicholas Dorsey stands to address his crew. On the tall side, he stands slowly, due to habitually hitting his head on things. He brushes a hand through his longish blonde and scruffy hair that makes him look like a bird with ruffled feathers. Ready to go planetside, he's wearing casual dress with his ballistic mesh underneath.

"As you all know, our invaluable Amiri has alerted us to a prime piece of scavenging. Even if his contact hasn't told everyone he knows, we will have competition, so just remember this: Stay low, and if someone asks, we're just here to move back in. 'Oh, is this the old museum that we are sifting through? I am ever so sorry! You see, I just had a decent collection, before the war. I've just gotten so mixed up." Stuff like that. Now, we're nearly there, so get ready."

He gives Quinn and Marcus significant looks. "Are we ready on your ends?"

[sheltem]

Macus looked up from a scrap of paper he had been scribbling on for a while. He looked very much like a teacher about to give a lecture.

"Well, Nicholas... with a cargo capacity of six hundred and fifteen tons, assuming 85% utilization, which would be very good and a standard rate for cargo transportation of one credit per ton... you stand to earn five hundred and twenty two point seven five credits per haul. Let us assume one week per haul in which we expend fifty two tons of fuel, costing us roughly two hundred and sixty credits one week of cargo hauling earns two hundred and sixty two point seven five credits.
Let's - for the sake of simplicity - assume a month consists of four weeks, that would be one thousand and fifty one credits per month. Looking over Amiri's logs our average maintenance costs for one month are three hundred and forty two credits leaving a profit of seven hundred and nine credits. Also substact provisions - unless you want us to live off the algae growing in the atmospheric converters, which I would advise against -, port fees and the occasional medical expenses because of accidents and that profit drops to four hundred and twelve credits, or fourteen point seven one four credits per day. This means, that a mere fifteen credits per day - remember we are calculating with twenty eight days per month - made on Athens would be a better use of our time than hauling cargo. That ought to be possible."

Marcus put his scrap of paper away again to pull a collection of documents from the pocket of his waistcoat. "I also took the liberty of preparing a few papers to make us seem legit."
After handing them to the captain, Marcus continued. "Just tell me what our legitimate reason for being here is supposed to be and I can finish them. And once we know what we will be taking I might be able to forge some proof of ownership that would at least fool the uneducated masses sure to be manning the customs office.
Did you say we were going to a museum here? I wonder what their current collection might be."
His look became absent for a while, a sure sign of his mind wandering off. Then his eyes opened a bit wider in a slight shock.
"Oh, my! The fourteen point seven one two credits daily profit from cargo hauling did not take into account the point seven percent chance of a Reaver attack necessitating us to go to full burn for a day, thus expending more fuel! Or a client dropping out, or..." And then he was off again, adding every conceivable misfortune and disaster - each with their own probability and estimated cost - to his calculation, dropping the total result to ever more depressing lows.

[Kallisti]

Caleb smiles a little as Marcus gives his speech. Daft as a brush, that man, but a good heart. And an amazing brain.

He shakes his head. Standing around like an old washerwoman and I'm calling him daft. Well, if papers are taken care off and he's already surveyed the hold...

He walks briskly from the room to his bunk. "Cortex terminal...cortex terminal...there it is."

He pulls up the Data Library entries. Maps, museum exhibit lists...somebody had probably already looked, but another pair of eyes never hurt anything and besides, he had to do something.

[TruorTupnm]

Nicholas sighs during Marcus's initial ramble, but he lights up when he receives the papers and manages to stay that way even through the guy's projections of doom, which he waves away. "No need to list every ill fortune in the 'Verse, man. We'll pull through all right. And I'm sure that Amiri's old pal wouldn't call him up for mere fifteen credit hauls."

After a questioning eyebrow directed at Amiri, he starts counting off points on his fingers. "Like I said, we're just movin' back home. Tryin' to pick up what we've lost, the whole sad story. Amiri's been there before, so maybe he can fill us in on some of the local flavor. Me an' Happy should be able to pull it off like we're from there. Quinn and Susie here are lookin' to start up a family. I used to be a successful marble salesman, I guess. I ran off when my city got destroyed, and I got this crew, so the rest of you are nice people that want to help us move our dressers, if we find 'em. We're lookin' for work haulin' whatever, between moons, for now, to supplement our income, if we can. Happy, keep your ears pricked for such opportunities."

He hands the papers back to Marcus. "That enough?"

[horngeek]

Susan nods, signing to Quinn for translation.

I've got the infirmary set up just in case you boys need it. This doesn't seem like it should, but since when do things ever go to plan?

She offers a grin to her husband.

[sheltem]

"Alright, then." Marcus replied to the captain before disappearing in his cabin for a few minutes. When he came back, he once again handed Nicholas the papers, this time finished and ready to fool a few hapless bureaucrats. He had also taken the opportunity to don his holster and slip into his jacket.

"I believe they are best off with you or Happy, as I can make them, but I can not make them work the way you guys do. And those initial fifteen credits were per day, so a fifteen credit haul here, after flying empty would be woefully sub par. Unless of course you would go with my amended calculation, which..." Noticing Nicholas' exasperated look, Marcus stopped for a second before finishing with "... you do not want to hear about. I will just be over here, sitting. Quietly." With that and a quick smile to signal that he was not offended by this blatant disinterest in his talents Marcus sat down on his previously vacated seat and seemed content with just watching the coming events unfold for a while.

[Adlan]

Amiri
Amiri, the newest adition to the crew, was sitting at ease.
Invaluable is right, the way their last mechanic had their gurstler's running, and the atmo-feed was half choked. he thought.

He was also dressed for going dirt side. His Good leather Moccasin's, one of his jumpsuits, and a piebald sheepskin Jerkin. He was strapping iron, meaning his gun belt, and his tool belt.

'Well, way it is, Alliance have opened another city for reclamation. If we's pretending to be former resident's, then we's gotta have Alliance forms, or a Reclamation permit from United Reclamation' One of the benefit's of having a resident Forger that.
'Athen's supported Unification, so they don't take kindly to 'Hun Dan Independent's' as they put it, even though it was the gorram Alliance that bombed 'em, Last time I went, didn't get the kindest reception.'

Amiri shifted in his seat.

'After the War, most everyone who could moved to one of the moon's. Those that couldn't live in shanty town's, been that way for a good time now. Slum's like that, they're a bit rough.' The Young mechanic said, quite an understatement.

'Best Pickings will already have been taken by the Purple Belly's. I don't know if they'll of taken museum's and that, but all the government stuff, and known Independent stockpiles for sure. Still, we could always stumble across some secret stash of skiff's and make a fortune'

[TruorTupnm]

Nicholas, "Hm!"ed, nodded, and glanced at Marcus's papers during that, then purses his lips. "How sensitive are they to Independent sympathy? Not that any of us loyal citizens would think to say anything untoward about our government, but would they recognize you, d'ya think? I'm thinkin' that you and Caleb should stay aboard, just in case, although I'd miss your help out there. Come with us to meet your contact, so he knows us, then you'll wait it out here, with Caleb."

[Adlan]

Amiri
'Last time I was there, I wore my father's Browncoat', the Browncoat which was currently folded up, in the bottom draw of Amiri's Cabin, along with the few capture's he had of shadow, his family, and their old ship.
'So long as we ain't to conspicious, we should avoid any trouble. Even Last time, it just ment every pickpocket and trouble maker singled you out, and you couldn't get a good price from anyone'

[TruorTupnm]

Nicholas brightens, then nods with finality. "That's fine, then. Good! You can lead us to our fortune and glory, after all! Wear white. Stay low. You only want to help me find my precious family heirlooms." He turns to his first mate and off-handedly adds, "Caleb, I'm still gonna need you to watch the Lady, though. Jiang and I'll take our turns sittin' around, too, so don't fret over not gettin' a chance to stretch your legs." He darts his gaze around the lounge and looks confused for a second. "So, we all know what's what, yes? Go on and get ready to go to work!"

[Night Monkey]

Happy, who had been sitting on the floor listening with crossed legs, leaps up (not noticabley far) at the mention of action.
"Time to start the show gentlemen, and you of course madame," he inclines his head towards Susan, grinning broadly. "Ooh, if the feds have gotten some of the best stuff, we could see about persuading them into parting with it..." He continues to muse to himself as he bounds away towards his cabin, before reverting to simply whistling to himself.

[Bowerbird]

Jiang sits off to one side, listening to the plans of his adpoted family. He wears his habitual loose-fitting mandarin-collar shirt, slacks, and lightweight boots, hair clipped short. "What would you like me to do Captain? Protection detail?" he adds in his virtually accent-free voice, insisting on always addressing him as Captain for some reason.

[Dersess]

Quinn offers a smile to his wife, and flashes her a quick response:

'We should be fine. I mean, they're reopening a place potentially full of treasure with no authorities keeping an eye on it. What could go wrong?'

He then turns to his captain.

"I'm all ready to bring the Lady down, cap'n. Just tell me when we wanna descend, and off we go. Susan told me that the medbay's shiny, in case any of us needs a bit o' patchin' up. One question: what about weapons? Do you think anyone would bat an eye if I brought ol' Shpagin with me? The pistol won't be a problem, I reckon, but a SMG's a bit different."

Shpagin, a submachine gun that had gained infamy during the war as being the 'Browncoat's zipper' due to its high rate of fire and distinctive firing sound, sat on a rack just next to the pilot's console, its rosewood furniture and blued barrel and heat vents just as clean and pristine as the day Quinn got it.

[TruorTupnm]

Nicholas shakes his head ruefully and grins off at Happy, then nods at Jiang. "Please. I'm sure you'll be just great at moving dressers - er, whatever we're actually pickin' up. Maybe you used to be a moving guy?" He makes as if to consider for a moment, then shrugs. "But hopefully not. I'm countin' on you to eventually remember that you're really the heir to some wealthy family or other."

At Quinn's query, Nicholas nods his thanks at the couple, then darts the question to Amiri with his eyes but answers anyway. "Pistol's fine. The SMG might bring some unwanted attention, though, or it could just deflect it. Leave it, for now, and relax! You say that we're ready to go? In that case..." He turns abruptly and heads for his cabin, patting himself down absent-mindedly. "I want to go home! Ah, alas for my vanished empire of marble!"

[horngeek]

Susan just looks at her husband for a moment.

Well, It's ready just in case.

[Adlan]

Amiri

The Young Engineer knows enough not to undermine the captain's authority, and keep's sù jìng* on the subject of weaponry, despite the fact that something bigger than pistol's might be appreciated in the scavenging rush.

But then, he thought positively, we do have something a mite bigger, the ship's defensive cannon's.

It was while keeping silent that he noticed agin, the delicate hand movement signals of the Doc and her husband. It might be useful for them all to communicate like that, if there was ever a need for quiet in a pinch.

'We're all ready in the engine wise to hit Atmo Cap'n, Spicy lady's a okay '

*Translation Solemly silent

[sheltem]

"Why do we not dismount one of the Lady's cannons and take it with us? I'm sure it will go well with our cover of just moving back in if we arrive with the heavy artillery." Quipped Marcus from the safety of his seat, probably from the usual tension of going into the unknown of a new job again.
"I would prefer not to attract more attention than absolutely necessary, which is why my rifle will stay right where it is."

[Kallisti]

Caleb just nods. Staying on the ship was a good idea. He tended to attract attention. On the other hand, sometimes that was convenient. People who were too busy staring at the scars didn't notice other things, like a line or two off on the watermarks of those IdentCards. Not that there were noticeable flaws very often. Marcus did good work. We've got a good mix of talents in this crew, he mused.

And then later, once the cover story was established, he'd go out and have a look around.

[Lifeson]

As you reach Athens, the first thing you probably notice is the amount of ships and people back to the planet. The fact that the ship wasn't even hailed at all shows just how drastically understaffed and swamped the feds are at the moment, between dealing with all the old residents coming through and attempting to keep the vague amount of peace that would result from so many people...returning home or otherwise.

There are still places to land, whether you preferred an 'official' dock, or to just land anywhere you please. When you do, the Feds take a quick glance at the ship, assume you moved to the border worlds for work, and move on to a more pressing issue, which was a loud squabble between two men over the site of what used to be an apartment and what belonged to who on the ground.

Speaking of ground level, there isn't a whole lot still standing. There's a small trickle of people still coming in, but there's still plenty of folk picking through the remains. Among the places still standing are a tall Alliance outpost (Of course), and a few lucky and semi-well built houses, all along the outer rim of this part of the city. The Alliance outpost in particular is a sight, with all the windows gone, and being heavily covered in graffiti -most of it vulgar-, and appears to have been hit by a mob at one point, no doubt sometime near the original bombing of Athens.

[TruorTupnm]

Nicholas grins widely at the lack of Alliance attention, then attempts to sober himself and get into the character of a homecoming marble tycoon. Before grabbing his shotgun and heading out, he locates Caleb. "I'll send you a wave, soon as we know more. No feds snoopin' around is good, but that just means that we can't even count on the usual cops keepin' the riffraff away. We have to consider this a planet of looters. Don't even trust the feds to be doin' their jobs. I want to leave someone with you, but if you think you're good, I'll take 'em all with me. We'll check in with each other every couple of hours. Amiri should have told you how to get to his friend's shop, just in case. Keep safe."

At the end of the boarding ramp, he strikes of bit of a pose, gazing hopefully at the horizon. "Ah, finally home! Everyone ready? Amiri, lead on! I do hope that my old boxes of baseball cards survived!" As they walk, he spouts off information about the schools that he supposedly remembers to Quinn and Susan, trying to steer their future children towards a decent private school that hopefully wasn't destroyed.

[Adlan]

Amiri

'Errrr..... Where do you wanna go, Cap'n' Amiri dropped back to speak to their 'Marble Magnate' of a Captain,

'My Old Teacher's reckon's that somewhere in here is a hidden Cache from the Independents'

Amiri Pointed the way.

'You wanna head for it, or should we find your "ancestral home"'

[Kallisti]

Caleb nods. "Aye, sir. My ol' Gilgamesh and I will make sure we don't end up on the receiving end of the salvaging. Oh, and Captain? Check back in once in a while. Marcus says the salvage won't likely come out to much, and if he shows me numbers I assume they're the right numbers. Amiri's contact wouldn't call us out here for fifteen credits a day. There's something he wants us to see or somewhere he wants us to go, and I'm not so sure I like that."

[Bowerbird]

Jiang silently follows along, silently glancing at the rubble around him, struggling to remember. Did I live here, perhaps? I really hope not. He thinks as he surveys the damage.

[TruorTupnm]

Nicholas tosses a salute and a nod at Caleb, as the group leaves the Spicy Lady. His eyes flash warningly at Amiri, but he breezily responds with, "Well, of course my old homestead is our main objective. No one had any Independent ties there, I assure you! Ugh! The very thought! They brought nothing but trouble to my dear Athens! But, ah, if he's on the way, we may as well stop in with your old friend. Introduce us! I'd love to hear the latest, from someone who's been here a bit longer."

More surreptitiously ---> "Let's not mention such things just anywhere. If you think that your contact doesn't have anything more for us, we should at least drop in so he knows us. Or just point his place out to us, on the way to my 'homestead', which is all we need to call our goal."

Suddenly, he gasps with joy and rushes over to a ruined building. "Oh! My favorite tavern! We must be going the right way! Ah, good times! I wonder if ol' Aaron is still around!"

[sheltem]

Following closely Marcus slightly shook his head at Nicholas' antics and ramblings, but - for once - said nothing about them. He had a hard enough time trying to blend in on Athens, with his gray suit and silver cufflinks (a present from his professor for his doctorate). So he was warily watching the crowd for any signs of trouble, memorizing faces and counting how often each showed up in a given timeframe.

[Kallisti]

Caleb quickly goes to his bunk and fetches the Gilgamesh and its magazine, his surveillance gear, his cover papers and a small shot of something strong. He sets up somewhere with a good view of the bay doors, gets the feedback scanner up and running in case the local Alliance forces start to get overly interested in the new arrivals, and starts memorizing his cover story while watching the doors. "Kieran MacTyr. Age 31. Born here on Athens. The scars are from an engine failure on my first ship, a firefly called the Empyrial, on which I was a cabin boy and pilot-in-training. My father was..."

[Adlan]

Amiri

'Aye Cap'n' Amiri nods, and readjusts his gun belt. With a strong stride, he leads the way through the rubble, out of the border of the newly opened city, into the shanty town of former resident's too poor to make it off this piece of go'se rock, or those who had come to make reliable money, supplying everything the newly opened cities scavenger's could need.

Eventually, the reached a place marked out, one of the many patches cut out of the rest of the shanty town. A simple sign hung over the entrace, metal letter cut from advert's and building sign's from the ruined city, spelling out:
BOWDENS

Inside were workshops, people working on engines, seperating metals from one another, stripping down duff electrics for the wiring, cutting away leather scraps from seats, even kids bringing in bags of spent casings and bullet fragments, picked up off old battle fields.

Mr Bowdens was a Tall man, long dreadlocks tied back into a crude pony tail. When The crew walked in through the gate, he turned with a wide smile He took Amiri's hand in his own huge one, in a crushingly friendly handsake.