S2E6.2 - Hunter or Hunted

[Alyssa Garnet]

Alyssa leaned back with her arms folded and lips pursed. She had known that this ship operated at some level of danger - it was no pleasure cruiser, that was sure - but hearing about Nikola Kang and seeing the damage that had been done on her behalf to the ship and outpost made her rather nervous.

She nodded as the Captain gave her her assignment. Putting together the list he wanted shouldn't be too difficult. It would take no more than half a day to go through everything.

She didn't have anything worth saying at the moment. She kept her eyes on Tarantino for his reaction.

[Tarintino Quin]

Tarantino, who had shuffled into the ops room shortly after Alyssa has grown progressively more and more pale over the course of the captain's breakdown of what to expect and what they where planning to do. He shuffles up next to his doctor friend and leans over to whisper a worried sounding "Are you sure this is where we want to be?" To her, trying to keep his voice low enough for only her to hear it, Tarantino wasn't exactly a trained voice actor or ventriloquist though so sharp enough ears might still be able to pick up his admission of uncertainty.

"These guys seem kinda shady" He would continue to whisper, glancing around the room at his present company "And the captain a moment ago was talking about criminals and gangs and fighting" He adds, pausing a moment to shudder "He seemed quite speccifically sure that he feels like we'll be fighting at some point, do we really want to be getting into fights?" He asks his friend, he hadn't really taken Allysa for the brawly type!

[Monty]

Monty listened closely to the captain and the situation surrounding Ronin. Normally the mechanic wasn't one to run toward danger, but jobs were hard to come by....especially good ones like this. So danger be damned he was in up to the hilt. His ears perked up when Lin spoke directly to him...

"As for specifics for the ship ... Monty, as I said earlier, I have welded plates on the roof of the ship to seal up a couple of holes and reinforce her. We can check those in the morning. There are still some spare parts we need to focus on getting plus her thrusters working which includes a power problem. I figure we have a day, two at the most, of fuel left which should be enough to get us to Deja Thoris on the other side of Greenleaf. But I want us capable of surviving the Black before we lift off of here. I know some basic mechanic and electrical maintenance but tab who you need to help move supplies."

"Sounds good to me Cap'n....I've run some diagnostics already and have some leads on that power issue. Ronin will be ready,
no doubt."

[Fey]

Helena listened intently, her brow furrowed, as Lin spoke.  She had heard about Nikola, most people who had some kind of criminal past knew about Nikola. It certainly explained Vega's overall disposition and what happened to Lin's old crew. She let out a slow breath after Lin had finished and looked at him.

"Color me impressed." She looked over at Ian and shook her head "You lost Glory?"
Helena grinned, obviously she was joking, but all the same, that was a great ship. "I can help out Vega, guns and I tend to get along real well...and I've always liked a bit of chaos." She was looking at Lin now, alluding to her previous conversation with him. 

[Ian Dugan]

Ian listened to what Lin was saying.  He heard the words but their meaning was lost to him.  It was like everything was in a cloud with no sun coming through.  Then going from that into the bright sunshine.  He was blinded with hope.

Helena ribbed him and everything became clear.

He smiled his perpetually crooked smile and looked at Abe.

"We're goin home.  After this last mission, we're goina get Glory back."

[Lin Kuei]

Lin looked around the group one last time. "You all have your work assignments. I will be up at sunrise tomorrow in order to tackle the roof and some of the plates I have left up there. If you finish whatever I have assigned, I'm sure others can use the help." With a nod to the crew, he dismissed them.

Exiting the Ops area, he made his steps to his cabin and set a kettle on to boil for some tea. Taking a seat at the desk, he pulled out a journal and a pen to write with, pondering the problem at hand. Lin shoved it out of his mind for a moment as he focused on something unrelated to the situation with closed eyes. After a few moments, he scribbled some lines in his journal. When the kettle blew, Lin let it for a moment before collecting it.

[Alyssa Garnet]

The captain's speech had spooked Alyssa. There were lots of reasons joining Ronin had made sense for her and Tarantino, but after hearing about Nikola and the full weight of what Ronin was doing... Now Alyssa was uncertain. The offer to leave in the morning and find a different ship to travel on suddenly seemed like the smart thing to do.

As the meeting came to an end, Alyssa was going to need some encouragement. Two old friends crewed on this ship - Vega had basically been the reason they had come to Ronin; McKayla was a pleasant surprise (despite the seemingly cold reception in the galley).

Alyssa ventured towards each of them with the intention of striking up a conversation that would help her make the decision to stay - or go.

[Monty]

Leroy was up and out as soon as the Captain dismissed them. The Mechanic figured he still had some time to check Ronin's systems a bit further before he would have to turn in for the night....Sun up comes mighty early. He mused while quickly moving toward engineering once again.
Leroy spent the next two hours double and triple checking Ronin's various components before he was finally overtaken with exhaustion and fell sound asleep at a control panel amidst the flickering light of the monitor.

[Ian Dugan]

Ian walked back to the cabin he shared with Abe from memory.  He was in a daze but kept in motion.  He entered the room and waited for Abe to enter as well, closing the door behind her.

"One more job then we go home.  You'll have your pick of positions.  Security or XO.  I dont care which.  Our baby will have a home and wont be beholdin to anyone.  Except us."

So may thoughts whirled around in his head.  He was happy and it showed.

[Velocity Grey-Lambert]

Velocity said nothing but her eyes grew bigger and rounder as Lin spoke. She didn't react in any other way; she had seen her share of war and death, had watched her wife's ship destroyed by an Alliance missile, her wife and life with it, and it held no particular terror for her. Death would come as a reliief, a welcome end to the hell her life had become since Bonnie's death. There had been a couple of occasions where she had deliberately put herself in harms way, nightly hoped that she would not wake but, when it came to it, she had never been able to take that final, deliberate step.

Lin didn't seem to address her specifically when he allocated tasks and she wondered what she should do. She knew that she should approach him, knew it was up to her to do something about her situation but she felt too intimidated, too weak, to take that step. And then she had hesitated too long and Lin was leaving. Releasing an internal sigh, Velocity made her way to the galley to pick up her violin and then to look for her berth. She saw that she was bunking with Nat and wondered what she would be like as a cabin mate and then wondered if she would have time to find out before Lin got too frustrated with Velocity and kicked her off; he wouldn't be the first and

In the cabin, Velocity spent twenty minutes, or so, updating her notebook, noting down all of the information she thought appropriate and put it on top of her violing case to transfer to her pile of clothes once she had removed them so that she had a good chance of finding it to read after sleeping.

[Lin Kuei]

It had been a few days and the ship was starting to hum. Repairs had been made. A test firing of the engines showed they were capable of at least allowing Ronin to get up enough for planetside travel. Most of the supplies had been cataloged, even updated. With all the vehicles stored, Lin climbed into the pilot seat and tapped the comm. "This is the Captain. I am going to get us off the ground and head toward Deja Thoris. We have enough fuel to make it but we'll be on fumes when we arrive. Should be a two hour trip at most. Strap in and say any prayers you have."

He checked to make sure all the seals were good before triggering the ignition for the fourth time in three days. The engines started up and caught fire. Lin nodded and kept the comm open. "Monty, keep an eye on her numbers. Ronin starts bucking in any way let me know." He had insisted on being one to lift his home off the ground. There were a few shakes before he got high enough off of the ground, slowly spinning the ship in the direction they needed to head and tapped the accelerator. Ronin seemed to lurch forward at first then belched before the engines evened out as he increased the throttle.

Lin pushed her forward and faster than before trying to get as much distance as possible before either fuel or, his bigger fear, the engines conked out and stuck them somewhere. Deja Thoris would be an important stop to getting the last supplies the ship would need in order to guarantee survival in the Black. The ship jostled several times as he kept the acceleration steady.

Lin knew they needed more supplies, primarily medical. Foodstuffs they had but he still intended to replace the hydroponics from the basement. Some of the extra metal they managed to scavenge could be sold to ease the cost of other repairs. Lin also wanted to load up on the spare parts necessary to lessen the need of docking to look for them. Deja should have a good amount of what they need as it was the biggest city on Greenleaf. He'd be keeping his eyes out for any who were hunting them as well.

[Monty]

"Monty, keep an eye on her numbers. Ronin starts bucking in any way let me know."

The Captain's voice crackled over the engine room's comm speaker. Monty was close enough to give it a whack or two which helped with Kuei's message. Monty could hear as well as feel Ronin come to life. He energetically dashed about checking various gauges and at times just paused to listen or lay his hands on the bulkhead to feel for any odd resonance coming through the hull.

"Looking good so far Cap'n!  ....just ease her into and she'll be fine." Ronin's mechanic reported to the bridge.

[Fey]

The ship rumbled off, and Helena welcomed the sound of whirring engines.  She had been in her cabin at the time of take off and let go a sigh of relief. Staying land side always made her uncomfortable, more chance of trouble in her mind.  Most of the time she spent going over the armory with Vega and fighting off whatever wild life was out there trying to come aboard. She never was one for nature. 

Helena made her way up to the galley for a snack and whatever company might come her way.

[Alyssa Garnet]

Alyssa was in the galley already, stirring a spoon of sugar into a mug of coffee when Helena came in for a snack. Alyssa hadn't had much interaction with Helena yet. Alyssa wanted to make friends, and so rather than take the coffee back to her desk in the infirmary as planned, she paused.

"Hi, Helena was it?" She pointed a thumb at herself and reminded the other woman of her name, "Alyssa."

[Fey]

Helena gave a short wave, "Nice to meet ya, She walked over to the food and grabbed a granola bar, or what resembled a granola bar. She took a seat across from Alyssa. "So what's your speciality around here?"

[Alyssa Garnet]

Alyssa smiled lightly, without showing any teeth.

"Oh, I'm the doc," she answered. She purposely used the shortened term - part of her effort to sound more like a spacer - but she was clearly awkward about it. The unuttered syllable "tor" seemed to hang silently in the air. She took a sip of her coffee, as if she could swallow the sound she was suppressing herself from vocalising.

"What about you?"

After getting an answer, Alyssa continued to make easy conversation. "Not been shipboard much myself. Kind of a big adventure into the Black."

[Lin Kuei]

Ronin was sailing as smooth as could be expected. There were a few bumps but Lin managed to keep the ship above the trees. He kept an eye on the dials and readouts just to be sure. Perhaps they were traveling faster than expected or he was paying too much attention to the controls but, in short order, the city of Deja Thoris appeared on the horizon. "Okay folks, I can see Deja Thoris. We are not far away now."

As they got closer, Lin checked the fuel gauge. It was going to be close. He switched over to the communication for the port itself. "We are coming in hot and with hardly any fuel left. I need the closest docking position you have to the western edge of the city. ... Roger that." Switching it back to internal comms, Lin spoke quickly. "Everyone strap in if you need to. This is going to be a tight landing. We'll be touching down one way or another in thirty seconds."

Ronin circled in hard toward the platform. Lin managed to get above and point the thrusters downward to ease the descent when they dropped quickly. The fuel and any remaining fumes had given out. The landing gear was down and the was a soft crunch underneath but the power fluctuated then switched over to the emergency reserve. "If anyone is not aware we are down, then they are probably dead or unconscious or perhaps just really sleepy." He vented the hatches to bring in some fresh air as he switched off the engines. Lin climbed out of the pilot's chair.
"Okay, folks. time to get re-equipped. Everyone meet in the cargo bay and we'll take turns heading out." Lin made his way toward the aft end of the ship.

[Tarintino Quin]

Tarintino was sleeping in his bunk in the room he and Allysa shared. Allya's side of the room was tidy and well organised. A vase of flowers  was perched on the bedside table with a neat little table cloth under it organized in a pretty fashion and she had pinned up beside her bed a collage of pictures of people, assumedly family and friends. It would seem Allysa had been trying her hardest to make the bare emotionless metal of the ship's interior as colorful as possible with her decorating, she notably hadn't done a bad job of it either.

The other side of the room however was a stark contrast, somehow the bare cold grey of the metal walls seemed even darker and more dreary than elsewhere in the ship, something some might say was an impressive but none the less unfortunate accomplishment. The sheets where a mess, dents and scratch marks covered the walls around his bed and dirty bandages had been strewn across the floor. It seemed as if the shadows haunting Tarintino's mind had crept out of his ears during his sleep and infected the area surrounding him.

Sounds of Tarantino creating the aforementioned dents and scratches on the wall besides him in his sleep as he thrashed about under the influence of his almost nightly nightmares had plagued the ship ever since it set off. Sounds of panicked screams had more than once filled the halls as he burst out of his bed during the middle of the night.

Last night had fortunately been quite quiet, a most likely welcome relief to anyone who had a room within ear shot of his but it seemed Tarintino was taking advantage of a good nights sleep when he could get it, having slept well into the day. Unfortunately, it could only last so long.

The sounds of impact against metal echoed throughout the halls, followed by another, and then another. And then screaming. These sounds where not unusual but they where definitely louder and more frequent than before. Tarintino was getting night terrors again and on a unprecedented level.

"NO!" His voice echoes throughout the hallways as a pounding crash sends a shudder through the ship, dust falling lightly from the ceiling. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" Two more pounds, the ship shaking enough this time to send objects off of shelves.

Tarintino smashes into the door frame leading into his room, bending the metal forwards slightly from the impact, both hands clutched tightly over his ears as he screamed at the top of his already hoarse lungs, a dreadfull "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" sounding out throughout the halls.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" He screams again, thrashing an arm to the side so strongly it throws himself off balance and hurls him across the hallway, the back of his forearm slamming into a fire extinguisher on the wall, the red cylinder exploading in foam as Tarintino falls to the ground, writhing about on the floor as he clutches his head again, kicking at thin on his back as he continues screaming.

Tarinitino's behavior had been strange before but never even near this level, on top of the screaming which was just plain obnoxious he was also damaging the ship and could potentially have hurt a crew member if someone had been standing close when he had started his fit.

[Alyssa Garnet]

As the sounds of Tarantino's outbursts echoed through the hallways, Alyssa's eyes went wide and her cheeks flushed. She was equal parts concerned for his well-being and embarrassed for the affect on the crew.

"I'm, I'm so sorry," she stammered to Helena as she ran from the galley towards the crew quarters. She dashed down the stairway, stopping short at the bottom as she saw Tarantino burst from their room. She kept a safe distance from him, knowing full well that he was not in control of himself at the moment. If anyone else arrived, Alyssa would warn them not to approach him.

"Tarantino," she said softly, resisting the urge to shout his name. She jumped as he threw out of his arm and smashed into the fire extinguisher.

"Tarantino," she repeated, her voice calm and peaceful, with a hint of pleading in it.

[Fey]

The sounds of a man experiencing what could only be described as a panic attack on steroids boomed through the halls. Helena jumped slightly at the sound of it and felt pity for the woman who was going to deal with it.  She waved her hand at Alyssa as if to indicate it really wasn't an issue. And it wasn't, goodness knows she had her share of nightmares.

"Let me know if you need any assistance, I may not have the lightest touch but I can wrangle someone if need be...I'll be down in the cargo bay getting ready to head out."

Helena grabbed her  wrapper and tossed it in the trash on her way out. She made her way to the cargo bay, along with a short stop at her room for her pistols. She didn't expect much danger but with the sordid pasts of the crew members on this ship she wouldn't be surprised if something came up.