S2E8 - To Catch A Glory

[Monty]

Leroy arrived in the cargo bay just as the captain dropped the ramp, the cool fresh air hit him like a wave as the scent of dirt and trees were a comforting welcome to the mechanic turned bodyguard. He stood there in the cleanest and sharpest clothes he had worn in quite some time. Black pants and jacket with a button up white shirt, a bit snug fitting but it would suffice...he even managed to pull a razor over his face. Under the jacket he hid his revolver and a auto pistol Helena lent him with an extra mag. "Ooh Nice!....gonna be a beautiful night." A clean shaven Leroy moved ahead to meet Lin at the top of the ramp. "Don't expect me to get fussed up like this all the time Sir, we'd have to talk raise if so." The Mechanic smiled.

.

[Ava Gray]

Ava stood at a window, looking out over the cliffs that had earlier been modeled aboard Ronin.  The ocean was invisible in blackness, but the constant roar of its waves made it clear that it was there, inescapable even in the void.  She rubbed her arms as if to ward off a chill, and glanced at the clock on the wall.  No time for hesitation.

Ava moved back to the vanity in her suite's dressing room.  She looped a curl of brown hair around her finger and used a diamond studded pin to secure it in place.  It had been a week that she'd been in Andy Gotcha's Grand Bluff now.  Seven days that she'd been booked in a room at his casino, strolling through his halls, watching his security, noting the placement of cameras, the habits of his staff, the nature of his customers.  She tilted her head this way and that to make sure everything was in place, then rose to examine her appearance in the room's full-length mirror.

The image in the mirror didn't give her the expected moment of déjà vu.  The doctor wore the same red gown she'd worn the night of her fateful date with Admiral Southerland, a dress she'd thought she would never wear again, but never say never, right?  That had been only a few months ago, and Ava had assumed that the dress would only invite back the same feelings of insecurity, the same sense of being a fraud that she'd felt in preparing for that evening in high society.  Instead, she felt...  angry?  Determined?  No, that wasn't quite right.  It was as if, having seen the true heart of the 'verse, she no longer bore the burden of having to reconcile the image she presented with the truth about herself.  If the 'verse could lie like that, it couldn't hold it against her if she lied too.  And this time, the image she wore wasn't to try and broker some unobtainable ceasefire with her mother – this time she had a job.

Working for Lin Kuei...  Ava wasn't certain whether she liked the man or not.  She feared him, certainly.  It seemed an odd reason to choose to ally with someone but...  If you're scared of what's out in the darkness, you don't go walking with a purse puppy.  You find the biggest, meanest dog you can, and you hope that when it's all said and done, the two of you are on the same side.  She wasn't sure whether this made her part of the crew, or a contractor, or what, but the pay was so much better than the smuggler's outpost he'd pulled her from that she didn't worry about the details.  Not too much, anyway.

Deciding that her preparations were finished, Ava shot a quick message off to the captain of the Ronin.  Party still on for tonight?  Everything's ready on my end.

Ava picked up a small clutch purse and flashed a dazzling smile at the mirror.  "Time to go make some noise."

[Mara Blake]

The waiting was torture.

The forest was dark and, having spent so long in a desert, the smell of pine was making Mara ill. She had climbed a tree and found a perch from which to watch, and wait. It was taking all her energy not to lie back and give up. She was certain that if she allowed herself to slump backwards she wouldn't fall asleep - she would simply slip out of existence. And maybe that was what she should do. What was the point in even living, now?

And yet, live is what she did. Live, watch, wait and think...

Think about how the PurpleBellies had managed to find them. An informant was the only answer but Mara could bare that truth. Who among their group would have betrayed them so brutally?

Think about how they should have moved quicker. They'd gotten comfortable and lazy and complacent and weren't as ready as they should have been. They'd feared this day would come and had assured each other that they were prepared if it did - but they weren't. A pair of go-bags... She laughed darkly. Fat lot of good that had done them. They'd been fools.

Think about what would happen next: If Ronin did show up, she would join them in whatever mission they had and at least that would give her something to fight for, for a while. Would it be enough? And what if Ronin didn't show up? Perhaps she really could just slip out of life. Did the natural human will to survive have a limit? Had she reached hers?

Think about everything, anything except those last few seconds - the words he had said, the things she had thought, and the feel of his blood and guts splattering against her skin...

Suddenly the quiet, deathly silence of the forest was ripped apart by the sound of a ship breaking atmosphere and coming in to land. There was a sound in the air like a scream - an almost feral sound of pain and anguish - but under the sounds of the ship no-one would ever know. So, like the tree that falls in a forest with no-one around to hear it, did Mara even make a sound?

***

The eternal browncoat clambered easily down from the tree, with those two gorram bags, and trekked through the forest to where the ship - her salvation? - had made berth. She moved fast, rustling the leaves around her as she prioritised speed over stealth. She could barely see in the dark but there was movement - a cargo bay opening and a shadow barely visible emerging. She crouched in the undergrowth.

"Lin Kuei?" she called out. She stayed hidden, though Lin would be able to tell her general location now - if it was indeed him. If it wasn't, she had enough cover before a hail of bullets killed her, if she moved quick.

[Lin Kuei]

"Don't expect me to get fussed up like this all the time Sir, we'd have to talk raise if so."

"I would not want you to get your best duds dirty, Monty" He was about to say something else when the comm receiver on his wrist buzzed. He tapped the vocal transmit to reply. "We are still on for tonight, Doc." Lin paused for a second and then reached over to the comm on the wall. "Alright, people, let's go. You all know your assignments so let's get things handled. Ian, we are going to need that shuttle moving very soon."

Lin was about to say something else to Monty when he heard his name being called from the forest. He had never been on Summerfair before and Ronin had made the point of not broadcasting their signal as they broke atmo. Only three people might have been waiting for him but one was on the Wushu with Jax, a second was already in the casino and would not have yelled to him from the forest and he did not believe in ghosts. "Mara ... stop making noise and come here."

Mara Blake had contacted him on a quieter channel and requested a place on the crew. The idea to meet on Summerfair was his. She had looked worse for wear from the last time he had seen her. When she finally appeared in the recessed and dimmed lighting of the cargo bay, she looked haggard. His willingness to disregard where someone stood in the War and become something of a reputation in certain circles and Mara was such a person. The Alliance still wanted her even after a decade of the War being over. Some people just could not let certain things go and, in Lin's case, Nikola was the only target he had in the forefront of his mind. "Welcome aboard, Mara. This is the ship's mechanic, Monty. He is dressed up much more than usual tonight for good reason. We are going to hit a bank attached to a private casino. Interested in helping out?"

[Ian Dugan]

Ian had nodded to Lin and moved to make the final checks fir launch.  He was dressed all in black, complete with TAC vest under his customary duster.

He was aware of the guest as Lin had called to her.  Since Lin didn't introduce him, he minded his task and made sure the Blaze was ready for Night Ops with full on stealth mode and Black out Lights.

He took a deep breath and and smelled Abe,. Not that he ever tried to get the scent of her out of their home.  He did not let his worry over her get in the way.  That would lead toore trouble and lower the chances of the job's success.

Once he finished, he waited until the others arrived and made ready to launch.

[Ava Gray]

Ava's comm buzzed, and her chest tightened as the job became suddenly real.  Up 'til now it had felt largely like play acting, with no real commitment to consequences.  Noticing security cameras wasn't a crime, but if the message said what Ava assumed it would, then tonight she was going to step over the line from smuggling to bank robbery.  Her path to the criminal element would be complete.  She'd already committed to the path, and nerves or not, she was going through with it.  After all, she thought, remembering what Luke had told her, We're the good guys.  She played the message.

"We are still on for tonight, Doc."

It was interesting how the same unperturbed confidence that had seemed so unnervingly incomprehensible when the doctor had first met Lin Kuei now seemed comforting.  She supposed it was the difference in being part of the team rather than on the outside.  She straightened her shoulders, tugged briefly at her bodice as if there were some final improvement she could make to the ensemble, and then stowed her comm in a dainty clutch purse.

Ava tucked the purse under her arm and strode out into the hallway.  A snatch of song ran on repeat through her mind, and she found herself mentally altering the lyrics.  I am the very model of a modern hardened criminal / I break all of the local laws and also all the Federal...  As she stepped aboard the elevator and the door closed behind her, she sharpened her focus on the job to try and dispel the earworm.  She felt her palms growing damp with nervous sweat and fetched a pair of lace gloves from her purse, careful not to expose the two syringes tucked inside - one of insulin, one of glucagon - two perfectly innocuous components of her worst case scenario self defense plan.  She snapped the clutch closed and slipped on the gloves as the door of the elevator whooshed open on a balcony leading down to the casino floor.  A torrent of noise and light flooded in to surround her; the clink of chips, the murmuring of voices punctuated by laughter and groans, the flashing lights of the slot machines and their electronic burbling...

The sheer volume of stimulus was so great it left little room for anxiety.  Ava felt most of her tension ease out of her.  She was the predator in her natural environment.  The gaudy display of luxury and wealth before her was the perfect camouflage.  She regally descended the  stairs and headed for a place in which she could lie in wait for the accomplices Captain Kuei was sending her way.

[Mara Blake]

In better circumstances, Lin's order to "stop making noise and come here" might have been met with a snort or some kind of dry retort, but as things were Mara simply obeyed. She emerged from the shadows of the forest edge and into the light of Ronin's bay. Her face was set, completely devoid of any expression. One small pack on her back, another (identical from the outside) in one hand, her long brown coat, a pair of guns and a pair of knives holstered at her hips and thighs - these were the materials she carried. It would not take much for an observer to tell she carried much more than what could be seen or held.

She was introduced to Monty. She looked at him, acknowledged him in a way, but her face showed nothing. She looked back to Lin. At the mention of the bank job a load of emotion washed over her. It didn't show on her face but she swayed slightly on her feet; perhaps a touch of fatigue. But she covered it with a shift of her gear.

"Hell yeah," was her response but though the words showed her eagerness her tone was flat and emotionless. "Put me in the action, boss, I'm ready to do some damage."

[Desertpuma]

The job at hand proceeded more or less as expected.


(OOC: This chapter is closed and the resolution of it will be detailed in Chapter 9 which follows.)