S1:Ep3 - A Tale of Darling-Do

[Lomari]

Ship Time: 1530
Location: Approaching Turbo Train Coordinates.

The Darling shuddered in protest as it pulled down through the clouds toward the turbo train streaking across the landscape below. Wisps of white trailed like cotton candy against the ship's front view port, droplets of water beginning to shimmer against the hardened glass once they passed through the cloud cover and into the threat of rain. The hall of the Darling vibrated and groaned, as though their home were making its opinion on the whole debacle known to the crew within.

Rian had been allowed to sit in the cockpit to assist Riot and Arlo with the Captain's 'insane plan' (provided Tabitha be allowed to accompany him everywhere), and had everything mostly set to rely on automation, although he'd likely have to step in to help the pilot-in-training should anything more complicated become required. As the ship veered and sailed down to fly parallel to the rocketing train, the shaking became more apparent as air trapped between the two vessels pressed outward in objection.

Slowly, the lower cargo doors slid open to reveal the boom crane's coupler as it was lowered gradually and deliberately past the bounds of the Darling's underbelly by their reliable Viktor. The metal shimmered in the waning sunlight on its way down toward the rear of the second to last train car, the ship rocking backward and forward several times until the metal cording thrummed with contact and the train and Darling were held together... in loose theory. The similarities between this and their job at the derelict ship were neigh impossible to overlook, the tension and apprehension clawing and grasping at their ship, threatening to crush it in its grip.

Inside the cargo bay, Mattie, Barnaby, Abe, and his boys stood at the ready near the opened hatch. Wind filled the room, the loud rushing of the train and ground beneath them making speaking in anything more than a shout just about useless. There wasn't much need for talk, to be sure, and everyone present knew their part of the plan. Bring Mona Home.

[Barnaby Goodweather]

Dressed in coveralls, with goggles covering his eyes and his bandanna tied and ready to pull up over his face, Barnaby didn't quite look himself, especially since he left his hat in his bunk. With these winds, he didn't want to lose it. Everyone else was similarly dressed, though Abernathy's men seemed born for the get-up. Barnaby thought it fit a little tight between the legs and across the chest. But not so much as to be restricting. Movement in a scenario like this was key. Either way, if they got back - When. He told himself, hopeful resolve filling his head.- When they got back, maybe he'd have Tabby put him on one those diets. He strapped some work gloves onto his hands, and adjusted the sub-machine gun he'd borrowed off of Abernathy's man, Charlie, that was strapped to his back. He hoped he didn't have to use that'n. He'd tried to tell them he didn't know how this thing worked and they just laughed at him.

The harness he wore would connect him to the tow cables, and they'd lower themselves down, an apparatus designed for checking cargo before reeling her up into Darling's belly. No reason it wouldn't work for this. Barnaby toed the edge of the hatch, peering down at the train underneath them. He half-expected it to woosh by a glance, but it oddly seemed to be keeping still. He reckoned that was just because Darling, and therefore they, were matching speed with it. Some physics nonsense or t'other. Something about relatives. Speed of light maybe?

All Barnaby knew was that, no matter how fast they were going, they'd better hurry up because Mona was sitting down there waiting on rescue. And the longer they stayed tied up with this train, the longer Riot was doing a job Barnaby was hoping she had the confidence to do and to do it well. "Alright everybody! Listen up! Keep everybody covered, we'll all get out of this in one piece. In and out. Just like Rian said but try not to kill folks if'n you can help it. We'll have enough Alliance heat as it is. I'll go first. Then Mr. Abernathy, then you, and you, and you, then Mattie. Once we's all on top, we'll blow the hatch, drop in, and do what needs doin'. I wanna take a minute and thank everybody, even Mr. Abernathy, for putting your life on the line for to make us whole again. I know Mona would appreciate it soon as she stopped being mad we did it in the first place. Okay. Take the harness, see this little lever here, make sure it clicks on the cable before you drop. It's mechanized, so it'll be a nice even drop, little quick, but ain't oughtta hurt when you land. Any questions?"

Luckily Barnaby mimed, to limited success, each step of his speech, because he couldn't even hear himself talk. How he expected anyone else to hear him was unclear, but perhaps they got the intent of it. And it's the thought that counts, right? His eyes met Viktor's and he gave the Preacher a nod. A nod of thanks. A nod of friendship. And he just hoped it wasn't a nod of goodbye. He did the same with Mattie, and it carried with it additional weight. To Barnaby, if there was only going to be one person to make it out of this, it would be her. And finally, Abernathy. The two locked eyes and Abernathy just grinned. Barnaby pulled his bandanna over his face before the man saw what his nod really meant. It was time.

Barnaby locked in his harness, gave everyone a thumbs up, and jumped.

[Viktor Söderberg]

Viktor managed to drop the crane mechanism slowly and fluidly to catch on the train below. He kept his eyes on the gauge, ensuring it didn't go into the red. His hand hovered over the release button in the event that he needed to sever the Darling's connection.

The wind rushed into the room, but the preacher was sweating at his station anyway. Shifting his gaze between his gauge and the gathered crowd, he watched Barnaby mime out the next few steps of the plan. Viktor pulled at his collar willing the wind to cool him and calm his system of the nerves that were plaguing him. He had been saying prayers in his head until now. He couldn't hear what Barnaby was saying so he wasn't afraid of talking over the captain.

Knowing that it no one would be able to hear him anyway, he spoke out loud, "Father, we go with you for we know that we are safe with you and we do not travel alone, for your hand is upon us. Your protection is divine and we are wrapped in your grace. When others fear the enemy, I rebuke him in the name of Jesus, because You said no weapon formed against us shall prosper. I believe that You are more than able to keep us safe during these times. Keep our hands steady, our minds clear and return all of our family to us, whole and safely. Amen."

[Mattie Rooney]

Mattie stood next to Barnaby, squinting at him through her mule-riding goggles. She couldn't make out what the captain was saying over the sound of the wind rushing in her ears, but she got the gist well enough; a run-down of the plan, probably accompanied by some words of encouragement.

She'd opted to go with her own guns instead of Rian's rifle, but had taken him up on his other offers, the breaching charges stashed away in a satchel strapped to her hip and ballistic armor hidden under her getup assembled from clothes she'd scavenged from various crew members. Standing there in her borrowed uniform, preparing to lay down her life to save a stranger, Mattie felt a little like she was about to participate in some kind of a gang initiation. Only these were good folks, and they needed her help, and she had no qualms about giving it to them.

Still, as she watched the captain jump off, followed by Abernathy and his men, she felt a small wave of trepidation pass through her. For all the action Mattie had seen in her life, she'd never done something quite like landing on a moving train before. As her turn to make the leap came up, she wondered if she had some latent fear of heights hiding in her bones, or if it was just the sheer force of the air current that was making her legs feel a little wobbly. She pushed the thought away and willed herself to man up; she was fearless, gorrammit. The surge of anger Mattie felt at her fleeting moment of hesitation gave her the boost she needed. She locked in her harness, checked it was secure, and jumped.

[Rian Carpenter]

Rian gripped the secondary set of controls in the co-pilot's seat. He'd been given a couple brief overviews of the ship's controls. Now-a-day's some modern ships barely needed a human pilot. The human operator practically ticking a series of boxes on a checklist, rather than personally maneuvering a massive hunk of steel around through galaxy. The Darling however, wasn't the newest boat on the pond so today Rian was going to have to white knuckle it with their mechanic, as they faked their way through their first turn at the controls.

He looked over at Riot and shot her a look, a sort of half smile, half panic. One that communicated his shared feeling of being out of his depth. The security specialist let a long exhale out. He tried to clear his mind and calm down. Carpenter had to push down his preoccupation with trying to seize control of the situation. No matter how involved he was with the plan, he wasn't roping down to that train himself and the reduced agency itched at him like wool underwear.

Now the ranking crewmember on the bridge, authority always fit him well, but he hated the circumstance in which it was thrust upon him. The precariousness of it all. With a few taps on the control panel he pivoted one of the exterior cameras to face the train. He carefully watched the racing locomotive beneath him. Already on the lookout for trouble.

The hapless co-pilot tried to cut the tension, quipping to Riot.

"Looks like our plan to run off together with the ship is working out gangbusters."

He paused for a moment, then clarified, immediately discarding the joke.

"Seriously though, things go south down there, we're taking this ship right back to the Baron's little fiefdom and we're gonna have words... And bullets..."

[Tabitha Haemish]

Location: Bridge

"Seriously though, things go south down there, we're taking this ship right back to the Baron's little fiefdom and we're gonna have words... And bullets..."

Tabby stood in the doorway of the bridge with her eyes glued to her charge. She braced herself against the threshold as the ship rattled and rumbled beneath her feet, but she knew that her duty to her patient was far more important to her than her comfort. "Not until you're healed up," she told him as firmly as the blonde wisp could manage, although she didn't quite say 'no' to the whole idea entirely. She'd piled her curls in a messy bun atop her head and held it in place with a pencil, a shoulder bag filled with some 'just in case' tools for if Rian decided to get rowdy and needed some extra patching up was slung across her chest and she'd tied her long skirt in a knot on one side of her thighs to keep it out of her way if she needed to move quickly.

"You're both doing so well," she encouraged, taking her hand off the metal long enough to give them both a motivational raising of her fist before she stumbled and slammed the hand back into place to keep upright, a half-worried little giggle slipping past her lips. "Viktor is doing well. The Captain is doing well. Everything is going so well!" she exclaimed, laughing nervously and trying to remind herself to breathe.

[Lomari]

Ship Time: 1545
Location: Turbo Train Coordinates.

Outside of The Darling

As Barnaby and his current band of misfits landed on the train, there was little enough fanfare that followed. The locomotive rushed past the scenery, the wind and air blustering against them aggressively so as to keep them low and close to the train's roof. For now, no one seemed to be coming out of the ship to greet them and their arrival had gone seemingly unnoticed. As planned, there was a ceiling hatch a few paces in front of them, locked presumably and needing to be blown. Inside, there was likely a battalion of Alliance soldiers so they'd need to move quick and efficiently if they were to get out of this alive with their quarry. They'd prepared for this and now all that was left was to get themselves inside the tin beast.

Inside The Darling

Rian and Riot seemed to be doing as well a job as they could, given the circumstances. One, wounded and grounded, the other an unseasoned pilot with no prior experience. Still, despite the ships vibrations and groaning protests, they had yet to crash or explode. They dipped occasionally, but the ship's systems were quick to correct for any erroneous maneuvering. The Darling took care of its crew. For now, their job was simple, keep the ship flying along with the train. If things looked like they were going south, it was up to Viktor to disengage the clamp and for Rian and Riot to fly to a predetermined rendezvous spot to wait for their missing flock.

[Barnaby Goodweather]

His boots hit the roof of the train (a thought Barnaby didn't think about too hard, because while it was the roof of the train, it was also the floor for being on top of it. Things like that spun him something fierce) and he was quick to scoot out away from the tether, so as not to be in the way of those that followed. He counted them off in his head.

Mattie.

Abernathy.

Abernathy's guy.

His other guy.

And the third one.

Normally Barnaby was the sort to know the name of a man he was doing a job with. In this case, however, it was probably better he didn't. A large parcel of his conscience still wanted no part of what they were about to do. Low down. Dirty. No good. Disreputable. Barnaby didn't like painting with those colors. And yet here he was, machine gun in hand ready to do some brushing.

Everyone on top of the train, holding on for dear life, Barnaby was reminded with the whoosh passing over him that he was glad he'd left his hat. "Mattie!" He said, his holler coming up empty against the howl of acceleration. "Get them charges set and we'll blow this mama!" And this time, reading lips wasn't an option either, as his mouth had been covered by his bandana. So Mattie would have to rely on his thumbs up that punctuated his orders. Maybe one of these days, perhaps with that promised payment from Abernathy, he'd pony up for some of those PDAs with the pieces for your ears. Might make talking a bit easier for jobs like this.

Nope. Barnaby had to remind himself. No more risky, life in your hands, praying you don't die, dealing with dastards type work. No sir. Easy street, smooth sailing, and saintly jobs from here on out. His eyes met Abernathy's. "Boy, do I hope this works."

[Lomari]

Location: Darling's Bridge

The hapless co-pilot tried to cut the tension, quipping to Riot, "Looks like our plan to run off together with the ship is working out gangbusters." He paused for a moment, then clarified, immediately discarding the joke."Seriously though, things go south down there, we're taking this ship right back to the Baron's little fiefdom and we're gonna have words... And bullets..."

Riot glanced over at Rian for the briefest of moments before staring forward once more, their body seeming to vibrate with the stress and sheer effort it took to keep the ship straight even with the automatic calculations the Darling was running on its own. Several seconds passed before they even felt comfortable enough with the ship's stability to manage a 'heh' of amusement, although it was clearly strained. *

The ship wobbled a little as Barnaby and his current 'team' jumped out and onto the rushing train below, their weight minimal, all things considered, but enough to momentarily bump the Darling out of its current course. Of course, the ship auto corrected for the change before Rian or Riot could feel much more than a slight tremble.

*Narrated with Axe's permission.

[Mattie Rooney]

Location: Train

It's just like riding a mule, it's just like riding a mule, it's just like riding a mule...

Mattie repeated the mantra in her head over and over again, although the wind was rushing in her ears so hard she could barely hear her own thoughts. Sure, from a certain point of view it was a little like the recent mule chase that had brought her together with the Darling in the first place, only turned up to eleven hundred, and losing your grip and tumbling off the vehicle meant certain death, with absolutely no chance of getting away with a few broken ribs.

The captain gave her the thumbs up, which she assumed was her signal to place the breaching charge. She made her way to the hatch and felt around with her gloved hands, looking for the latch -- she assumed that's where the charge needed to go, although it now occurred to her that maybe she should've asked Rian for more detailed instructions. She'd never done this before, and while she had full confidence in her common sense, sometimes these stupid hi-tech contraptions had some kind of a catch, like they were intentionally designed to be too obtuse for laypeople to use.

Well, it was too late to flounder now. Mattie positioned the charge in the spot that seemed optimal according to her best judgment, then backed away and gestured for the others to do the same. With slightly trembling hands, she reached for the detonator (don't you ruttin' dare drop it you chǔn zhū I swear to God) and pressed the button.

[Barnaby Goodweather]

The charge strip went HISS as the flare scored the edge of the steel door.

The charge strip went POP as the explosive concussed the weakened metal.

A hole opened up before them and before he knew it everyone emptied into train car and left Barnaby alone on top of the train. "Oh." He said, still shocked that the whole thing had worked so smoothly. He'd have to remember to thank Rian for having them charges. Why did he have those charges, come to think of it? Barnaby reckoned it was best maybe to not ask. Barnaby toed to the edge and looked down and saw only inky black. He didn't hear anything either, but over the ruckus of the train that wasn't unusual. "Trepidatious." He said, before holding his breath and dropping down into car.

He landed hard, his old knees taking the brunt of the impact and it was all Barnaby could do to keep himself upright. Once righted, Barnaby swung his weapon around, trying to make out an enemy or two while his eyes adjusted. Nobody else was shooting, so Barnaby reckoned maybe they were in the clear. Shapes took focus and became metal cargo crates stacked up against either wall, funneling them into the middle of the car. "Huh." He said, pulling the mask down from his face and the goggles from his eyes. "That was easy!"

[Rian Carpenter]

Rian watched as Mattie popped the hatch like it was old hat and smirked slightly. He knew she could handle herself and she continued to pay of his trust in her and verify that instinct he had in that harrowing moment they met. Barnaby was out of his element but five times tougher than you'd guess. He chimed in over their coms once Barnaby finally got inside following the rest of the boarding team.

"Don't take anything for granted in there, ticking clock, move and clear. Watch your corners..."

And don't trust Abe any further than you can throw 'em. The temporary XO wished he could say that part.

It was probably better the former outlaw wasn't on the boarding party. More than likely he would have just turned on Abe and his crew in there, leaving their corpses to take the blame for their jailbreak. Though, in his injured state he likely would have gotten himself killed and endangered the crew in the process. Besides. They had some tricks up their sleeves still. Hopefully.

He got to wondering when he could get back into the game.

"Hey doc... how long before you think I'll be recovered from the blood loss? Risk of further internal injury shouldn't be too bad if I have to go down there..."

Somehow he knew this idea wasn't going to go over too well.

"Never-mind. I'm flying now. That's a thing I'm doing right now... and totally competent. I'm fine. We're fine."

He chuckled somewhat awkwardly.

[Lomari]

Ship Time: 1555
Location: Turbo Train Coordinates.

Outside the Darling

It was easy. Too easy, perhaps, but that wasn't for them to question. Why look a gift horse in the mouth, when you could take it to market instead? Abernathy eyed the group from behind one of the storage bins, having taken to cover like the rest of his group in anticipation of some shooting. None came. The train car they occupied was completely devoid of any living being, save for their little group. It wad clean, polished, the sterile white light flickering from where its wiring had been half blown to bits when the hatch had been popped off. Despite the rough terrain the train raced through, the interior of the car was pristine and free of dust or cobweb, save for the smallest motes of dirt from heavy duty boots.

Behind them, the metal sheeting of the back wall. Above, the hole they'd blown into the beast and a glimpse of the Darling flying protectively above them. Before them, a pneumatic door that led to the next compartment of the vehicle. They way the crates had been stacked, either they'd need to take time to move them, or they'd need to go through that door in a single-file line.

Inside the Darling

Tabitha just about raised her voice when Rian implied he'd be good to go down into the quick of things, right amidst more bullet danger and wound threats. She lifted a finger to waggle it at him in silent frustration, which was about the extent of her 'anger' at his absolutely inaccurate statement. Once more, Tabby positioned herself in the doorway to the cockpit, using her small body as a relatively useless blockade.

"You're not going anywhere, Rian Carpenter," she informed him with a pout that'd make any puppy feel inadequate. "You gotta focus on helpin' our Riot fly the Darling so that we can grab our missing family and be whole again. No heroics or I'll...I'll...well I'll be very unhappy!" she threatened, her voice squeaking at the end of it.

Further in the ship Viktor said his prayers and manned the crane, ready to haul them all back up once they'd reappeared with their missing crew mate. Arlo did what he could to remind himself how in the hell he'd ended up on this ship, with the group, and once again forced to mingle with Ol' Abe. Riot did her best to keep the ship steady, Bandit whining from the stress rolling off of her human companion.

[Barnaby Goodweather]

The plan was going well, at least Barnaby thought so. He wasn't an expert on these particular kinds of plans. He reckoned that maybe it wasn't going exactly like Rian had laid it out. If it had they'd be shooting some folks right now and Barnaby had to suppose that that was why he thought it was going good. Nobody had died yet. So far so good, then.

"It's quiet, Captain." Abernathy said. "Curious."

"Yeah well. They ain't exactly expecting us, now, are they?" Barnaby said with his best forced smile. This work was dancing a jig on his insides. His heart hurt. His stomach flipped. His left arm tingled a bit. Dots in his eyes.

"I don't know. Are they?" If Abernathy was faking that smile, he was a lot better than Barnaby at it.

Barnaby scoffed. "If they was, they'd be here by now, right? We got these suckers by surprise, guaranteed." His breathing quickened. They had to be on the other side of that door. Just had to be. That was the plan. Treachery, foul-play, manslaughtering, duplicitousness- Barnaby had always said any of the above left a bad taste in his mouth but this was something else entirely. He actually felt weak in the knees, queasy, disgusted with himself.

There his arm went tingling again.

"This ain't right. I can't do it. They're behind that door. I know it. Don't ask me how I know. They're there and then everybody's gonna be killed." He wheezed, falling back against a crate and pulling at his collar, the machine gun clattering to the floor. "Rian! Tabby! I'm dying, Tabby!" When Barnaby said he wasn't cut out for this, boy, I guess he meant it.

[Mattie Rooney]

Location: Train

"Rian! Tabby! I'm dying, Tabby!"

Most people react in one of two ways when someone they dislike upsets someone they do like: they either comfort the person they like or lash out at the person they dislike.

Mattie never was very good at comforting.

"What the hell?!" The young woman stomped up to Abernathy and glowered at him. She'd removed the goggles and scarf covering her face, and the color that had drained from her cheeks during the balancing act on top of a moving train was quickly returning to them. She didn't care that he was bigger than her, or that him and his goons had her and Barnaby outnumbered. This clown was testing her patience, of which she had very little to begin with.

"Would it kill you to not act like a smug zhū tóu for five ruttin' seconds? You know he ain't used to this kind of stuff. Does pushing helpless old men around make your jībā feel bigger or somethin'?"

She kept her voice low, but the way she hissed her words made it very clear that she'd show less restrain if they were in a less precarious situation. With one last glare at Abernathy, Mattie directed her attention to the captain. It made her stomach turn to see the authority figure she was supposed to be following around reduced to a complete panicky wreck like this.

"It's alright, Boss. You know how the Feds are. They're probably so sure they got this place on lockdown that the guards all sit in their quarters playin' blackjack, or jerkin' off, or somethin'..."

Truth be told she wasn't feeling all that confident herself, but hell if she was going let this whole operation descend into hysteria.

[Rian Carpenter]

"Rian! Tabby! I'm dying, Tabby!"

Rian both gripped the flight controls harder and half tried to get up out of his chair. His brain firing contradictory orders to his body at the same time. Something was wrong down there... or maybe things were going exactly to plan... No. This definitely wasn't part of any kind of plan. He had to go.

Exchanging a look with Riot, he gave her a nod as if to say. "Yeah. I gotta go."

It wasn't macho posturing anymore. Barnaby was in trouble. Rian disengaged his seatbelt and as Tabby tried to stop him he caught her hand and held it gently.

"Barnie's in trouble. Please... I gotta help him help Mona, please help me help him help Mona?"

Rian winced slightly realizing how stupid that sounded. But it was true. He let go of her hand and pointed back towards the hallway.

"You can tranquilize me if you want but I'm going to try and operate some of your medical equipment, and I don't really know what I'm doing."

With that he was sprinting down the steel hallways of the Darling and grabbed the doorway to help him swing around and into the medbay. Again ripping his shirt off, he pulled the tape and gauze aside on his wound. He needed to reinforce this patch up so he could move freely.

Carpenter grabbed a medical stapler off a shelf as it was the only medical instrument he recognized. He thought back for just a split second. Just a flash of a memory, his dad shoving a bottle of whiskey into his mouth, then stapling his first bullet wound. That right of passage long behind him, he held the stapler up to his wound, and pulled the trigger.

"Gōngjī hé qiú!"

He smashed his fist down onto the tray-table beside him, then looked up and saw Tabby in the doorway. He sighed, mostly at himself and his haste.

"I can't let anything else happen...She's down there 'cos of me. So's Barnie and Mattie... I gotta go."

[Tabitha Haemish]

Location: Inside The Darling

"Rian! Tabby! I'm dying, Tabby!" Every hair on her body stood up at the roots, her heart clenching and her stomach churning. Tabitha reached out to grasp the edge of the doorway, not sure what to do. She didn't know how to get down there to him, but she also wasn't sure if this was part of his plan or not. It didn't feel planned... As she tried to work through it, she saw Rian freeing himself from his seat, her body pulling her forward in the beginnings of an attempt to stop him. "Rian..." He took her hand.

"Barnie's in trouble. Please... I gotta help him help Mona, please help me help him help Mona? You can tranquilize me if you want but I'm going to try and operate some of your medical equipment, and I don't really know what I'm doing," he pleaded, before rushing past her. A little whimper of uncertainty slipped past her lips and she looked down at Riot, who seemed strained and stressed but nodded to indicate that she and the ship's piloting system had it under control for now. Patting the pilot's arm, she smiled in an attempt to comfort her before the doctor turned and hurried after their chef, her slightly heeled boots clicking hurriedly against the metal grating. By the time she caught up to him, he'd just stapled himself together and she winced in sympathetic pain.

"I can't let anything else happen...She's down there 'cos of me. So's Barnie and Mattie... I gotta go."

Tabitha took a deep breath before entering the med-bay and reaching out to carefully take the staple gun away from him, setting it softly on the table he'd smashed his fist into. She glanced up at him, her lips puckered and mushed to one side of her mouth before she moved around him to a drawer. Soft hands opened cabinets, retrieved medications, pulled open drawers, and unearthed supplies. Again, she turned to look at him, her expression empathetic and thoughtful. Still silent, the doctor set the supplies on the table and ripped the tape and gauze the rest of the way off his skin. Once it was free, she set to cleaning the agitated wound, replacing the gauze, and wrapping him tightly and securely. "It's not your fault, Rian," she murmured finally, glancing up at him again as she worked, blue eyes bright and glimmering with worry. She sighed again, stepping back to inspect her work. Seemingly satisfied, she picked up the two pill bottles she'd set on the tray, one capped in red, one capped in green. "Red is for you, two tablets. Should numb the pain a little and provide an energy boost. It's not anything fancy but it should help... Green is for Barnaby, it'll help him with anxiety and should calm his heart..." she told him, holding each up as she talked about it before setting them in his hand. "Just...be careful? Doctor's orders. Everyone needs to come home, so no sacrifices, okay?" she asked him, staring up into his face unyielding.

[Lomari]

Ship Time: 1605
Location: Turbo Train Coordinates.

Outside The Darling

A stillness filled the train car as Mattie tried her hardest to comfort her new Captain, who seemed to be having a heart attack or a genuine Grade A Panic Attack. The goons seemed confused, not sure whether they should be helping the fool or if they should be taking some kind of cue from his panic and taking cover behind a crate or two. It was thanks to that moment of befuddled hesitation that the next few things were able to happen with some semblance of seamlessness.

The door before them slid open about five inches, a cylindrical object passing through and bouncing on the metal floor in the midst of the group once before it made a metallic 'click'. In the span of a few milliseconds, smoke erupted from the tube, filling the car with a thick, choking fog, its spread accelerated by the pull of air from the hole they'd used to enter.

From atop the train car came a thundering of steps before a second tube dropped down into the car through the hold they'd blown in the hatch. Another bounce. Another second. Then, a flash of debilitating light. As it faded, green dots of light hovered around in the smoke from the hole above and through the now opened door before them, several dots settling on the midsections of each party member. "Drop the weapons!" came a female voice from through the doorway, the sound muffled by what was likely a gas mask.

Inside The Darling

With one of the pilots out of his seat, the console beeped a warning before re-calibrating and relying a little heavier on Riot's station. Bandit padded into the room and jumped up onto Rian's seat, curling up in the most uncomfortably small spiral of dark fur and nervous panting.

Viktor looked up curiously as Rian and Tabby entered the cargo bay, but having heard Barn's call on the comms, he made no move to stop them. Arlo stood beside Victor with a cup of tea in one hand, its saucer in the other. He'd been having an interesting conversation on life philosophies and the nature of the crew's typical jobs when the panicked message from Barnaby and the pair of crew mates had entered and interrupted them. Rian buckled himself into a harness and clasped the tether onto the wire connecting the Darling to the Train. Tabby set a 'good luck' smooch onto his cheek and stepped back to stand with Viktor and Arlo. Before Rian took the leap, they could see a swarm of Alliance soldiers moving out of a hatch on the next car up before they made a beeline for the popped hatch on the car Barn and Co had breached. From their vantage point, they could see a flash grenade dropped into the hole and a few soldiers look up toward the ship. However, they didn't seem to mind that it was there and made no obvious move to dislodge it from the train.

[Barnaby Goodweather]

Abernathy smirked at Mattie. "Yes." He said, answering all of her questions at once while she attended to her Captain. He and his boys shared a bemused look and from Barnaby's angle an old saying of his pappy's about foxes and chicken coops, whatever those were, came to mind. And then, as stars and spots filled his vision and Barnaby tried to slow his breathing, smoke began to fill the car and Barnaby really did wonder if he was going to die. He was so close to pulling it all off, seemed a shame to fail when he saw the finish line.

Blurry visions of a calculated surrender as Barnaby's head swam and Abernathy and his goons dropped their guns and went to their knees as Purple uniforms surrounded them. "He's the one giving the orders." Abernathy sneered at Barnaby. "This was all his idea."

Barnaby, fighting against things like better judgement, debilitating pain and shortness of breath, aww-shucks humility, and quite possibly Mattie, pushed himself to his feet and staggered over to where Abernathy was being arrested. "Damn right I did, you sonofabitch."

[Thackery Arlington III]

"...And if it weren't for that engine failure, he never would have met the banker, and would have gone on to marry the Davenport girl after all, which really just goes to show that you can never predict where life might take you," Arlo declared in conclusion to a rather rambling anecdote that had somehow been relevant to the Darling's last job when he'd started it. He paused for a sip of tea and continued, "But the fascinating thing is that I met Lady Davenport's grandmother at a charity function not long after, and she--"

"Rian! Tabby! I'm dying, Tabby!" The message was barely decipherable over the cargo bay's crackly little speaker, but the panic in Barnaby's voice came through loud and clear.

"Oh, dear." Arlo set his cup back on the saucer with a definitive click. "He does sound terribly ill, doesn't he? Do you suppose he means literally dying?"

Rian and Tabby certainly seemed to think so, judging from the way they rushed in and made for the harness. Rian looked even worse than Barnaby sounded, if such a thing were possible. Arlo thought about expressing some friendly concern over whether he was up to a rescue mission, but then realized that volunteering himself in the gunhand's place was the next best alternative, and not an ideal one.

It wasn't that he was afraid to, by any means, but he also knew the limits of his own competence when it came to these sorts of things. Rian on his worst day would still probably rescue the captain more effectively than Arlo on his best, so he opted instead to keep his mouth shut and hastily got out of the crew's way, shielding his tea protectively as he stepped back.

Once Rian was clear, he took a few cautious steps forward again and peered down through the hole, curiously watching the goings-on below.