PT2: Persephone: Eavesdown Docks

[Andes Maley]

Andes looked at the Captain's hand to her face. This isnt what he thought. She took his hand in hers and the transfer was done. She pulled away and nodded, turning, shew as gone as quickly as she came. Andes slide the item into his front pocket without looking at it. He too turned and once more glanced over the crowd. Nothing out of the ordinary except a femme fetale who was quick to pull a gun at the bar. Andes joined the others with a brief nod to the newcomer. The others seemed in conversation with him. "I was wrong." he offered as an explanation.

[Tara Marx]

Tara turned toward the stranger....
"Nice to meet you both. I'm Monte Furlong. I was just waiting on an acquaintance who seems to be a no-show. When I heard you describe him, I figured I'd offer my assistance. Perhaps together we could pool resources to track him down."

Mattie quickly jumped in before Tara could properly process what she just heard.
"Why, whaddya want with him?"

"Just was supposed to meet. I have some sensitive information for him, but it looks like he's running late."

Tara was first ecstatic to learn that standing right before them was the very man Lucky was supposed to meet. She was quickly let down to learn he hadn't any more information on Mister Wade's whereabouts then they did. Tara motioned for Mattie to hold up a minute as she could tell she was ready to burst. "So you are Monte Furlong? ...the renown artifact hunter?" Tara found it a bit hard to believe, you could tell by the tone of her voice. She glanced back to Mattie..."This is the guy... if he is who he says he is." Tara brought her attention back to Mister Furlong. "Do you know who Alberich Siegfried is?"

[Monte Furlong]

"So you are Monte Furlong? ...the renown artifact hunter?" Tara found it a bit hard to believe, you could tell by the tone of her voice. She glanced back to Mattie..."This is the guy... if he is who he says he is." Tara brought her attention back to Mister Furlong. "Do you know who Alberich Siegfried is?"

Monte paused, watching the interplay between the two women. On the mention of Big Al, he grunted through his smirk. "Ah, yes, I know OF him. Not had much need to interact with him, though. You could say we travel in different directions along the same roads. Yes, I am the famed Mr. Furlong, of some repute as a searcher of artifacts." he slipped one hand into his breast pocket, pulling out an ID wallet. Showing it to Tara, he confirmed his identity. "So, the reason you were looking for Lucky is to meet me?"

[Tara Marx]

"So, the reason you were looking for Lucky is to meet me?"

Tara looked over his ID as Monte spoke, it seemed legit. "Well Lucky was supposed to meet up with you and then join us at another location. As you can see that plan has run afoul." Tara glanced around the room just to see if they we're being watched. "Keep an eye out, both of you." She directed that to both Mattie and Maley. "Just something about this place...." Tara was going to say more but decided not to and returned her attention to Furlong. "Since we are all here now...Drogo wanted us to contact you believing you had some pertinent intel about something called 'Obsidian', Drogo led me to believe it was possibly a ship...." Tara lowered her voice..."With a cargo hold full of Alliance gold."

[Mattie Rooney]

Mattie furrowed her brow. Judging by how Marx was referring to this Monty guy, and how he referred to himself, he was some kind of a celebrity, like his name should've rang a bell. It didn't for Mattie. She had no idea what his deal was, and didn't really care that much to be honest. All that mattered was that they were getting closer to finding Lucky.

"Keep an eye out, both of you," Captain Marx told her and Maley, and Mattie nodded. She glanced in the bartender's direction, but he seemed to have already lost interest in them, and was back to making the curvy woman giggle with what were undoubtedly sub-standard jokes. She turned her attention to the bar, scanning the crowd. Her back was turned towards Tara and Monte, but she stood close enough to listen in on the conversation and interject if needed.

[Silje Falk]

"Well, maybe the fates will smile on us today, hm?" Silje gave Katrina a sideways glance as they walked down the street. Hands shoved in her jacket pockets, she idled along, not seeming at all like she was in a rush or worried. That was the usual state of her demeanor though, unworried and mostly jovial. In truth, she was worried. Last they'd heard, Lucky should have been around when they arrived, but there hadn't been so much as a hair left behind by him. Still, they might have simply missed him if he were keeping a low profile.

As they approached another bar, blue eyes scanned their surroundings and found that no one they were looking for. Uncharacteristically, her lips pursed in a semi frown. "Hvor i helvete is that man? Doing a fair good job of hiding if he's here," she muttered. The frown passed quickly enough as her eyes settled on the bar just ahead of them. "Might try the bar again. Can't hurt at this point, ya?" A glint returned to her eyes, though whether it was simply the prospect of a drink or the idea that they'd find Lucky at last was unclear.

[Katrina Markov]

Katrina nodded silently, it had been a few days since they had received any communication from Lucky.  It concerned her, not for his well being but more because it kept them off schedule.  She hated it when plans went off the rails.  Katrina pursed her lips and looked around, her earrings sparkling with the sun beaming off them.  One might consider the woman a mark....but they would be wrong, very wrong. 

They weren't in the safest area of Persephone, not that there were any safe parts, and the cool metal of her dagger reminded her of that.  She was tired of waiting,

"Might try the bar again. Can't hurt at this point, ya?"

She looked back at Silje and gave her a small polite smile, "No, I suppose not."

[Ophelia]

There was a commotion up the street, a mixture of screams, shouts, the sound of what might have been animals, and wood splintering. The ruckus, for better or for worse, seemed to be moving steadily closer to both Katrina and Silje. A couple walking just ahead of them shouted in alarm, both of them tumbling to the ground under the feet of two large and dangerously intimidating Rottweilers. The dark brutes only spared the humans a passing glance before continuing onward, their glimmering leashes dragging along behind them.

Gems sparkled around their neck and trails of hungry drool dripped from sharp, white teeth. One of them, slightly larger than the other and likely a male, seemed to look up in Katrina’s direction, a low growl rippling from deep in its throat. The other jerked to a halt before it could crash into Silje’s legs, the male skidding to a stop before Katrina. Malice seemed to radiate off the brute’s like a thick, tangible fog and their amber eyes were filled with violence. But yet, they did not run past, did not attack, and did not retreat. After a moment, their ears quirked back the way they had come, clearly hearing something they recognized.

“Jane! Henri! Get back here this instant!” came the very frustrated shout of what might have been a child. Another moment later and the source of the call pushed past the downed couple, stepping on the male’s chest as she made her way through them toward the dogs. Golden curls peeked out from beneath a pink silk bonnet, her pink dress of frills and lace flouncing about as she stomped toward the beasts, the skirt ending at mid shin and showing off her pink leather heels. A porcelain finger shot out, pearls glimmering around her wrist.

“Sit!” she commanded, and sit they did. The male, however, sat as close to Katrina’s feet as he could, staring up at her with that very typical ‘please pet me’ look some dogs had, a look that contrasted heavily with the razor filled maw that hung open, his breath so hot it fogged up before his mouth. Still, the girl moved closer, looking up at the women with raised golden brows.

[Silje Falk]

Silje stopped short as a pair of dogs came from the crowd. Big, growling, but otherwise handsome looking dogs. Both came up short just in front of she and Katrina, to which a much amused smile played across a face that was no more worried than before. She leaned forward, looking from one dog to the other. The glint in her blue eyes hardened only a fraction as the messy, brown braid she haphazardly had trapped her hair in fell over her shoulder. "Don't you go biting now. I bite back."

"Jane! Henri! Get back here this instant! Sit!"

The tiny thing commanding dogs nearly the size of herself drew eyebrows up. 'No fear in this one.' Piqued interest drew Silje upright, though with an ease about her posture, she clearly did not fear the hounds in front of her. "Yours I take it?" Her hands slid from her pockets and one fell simply to her side as the other found a resting spot on her hip. "Near as big as you, or bigger," she chuckled softly.

[Katrina Markov]

Before Katrina had a chance to enter the bar, she was cut off by two dogs. They were supposedly vicious with the snarling  and their general demeanor, but Katrina wasnt phased. She looked the dogs over, and then the young girl that soon came to follow.  Katrina looked over the group wondering where they came from. Their jewels also glistened in the light.

She leaned over and gave the dogs a light pat each on the head and looked up at the young girl, examining her. Pets did make good companions, they provided a different kind of social connection. Perhaps if I had pets I would be better with people. The girl's demeanor reminded her of herself at that age. She gave the girl a quick polite smile, as she was taught it was impolite to ignore people,

"You have very nice dogs...are you lost?" Her voice was light and pleasant, but there was no real emotion behind it. It's just what your supposed to ask.

[Ophelia]

Ophelia came to a stop, herself, a few feet away from where her dogs were sitting. She watched with mild curiosity as one of the women threatened to bite her dog, should it choose to bite her first. However, her brow rose all the more when one of the women pet the dogs and they didn’t immediately rip her hand off in response. The girl wrapped her left arm around her midsection to grab the opposite waist, her right elbow resting atop the shelf made by her left hand. With a thoughtful “hm”, Ophelia rested her chin in her palm and tilted her head to the side a bit, blonde curls bouncing gently with the movement.

"Yours I take it? Near as big as you, or bigger," Silje assumed.

“You two must be a special brand of crazy,” she remarked in place of an answer. Laughter danced about in her voice, although she didn't seem to be judging them for it. Still, it was the only way they’d have gotten away with sassing and petting the dogs without getting mauled. The pups likely recognized the crazy in the others and seemed to resonate with this pair of women.

"You have very nice dogs...are you lost?" Katrina asked.

‘Nice’ was an interesting word for these dogs. They seemed to enjoy the petting, but to maintain a certain image, both massive beasts snarled in response, their lips pulling back to further expose sharpened canines. Despite this, they did not snap at either Silje or Katrina.

Moving nearer the dogs, Ophelia bent down to pick up their bejeweled leashes, pushing her hand through the loops so they rested on her dainty wrists. “No, are you?” she asked, tilting her head in the other direction and looking both women over carefully.

Exit Katrina, Silje, Ophelia & hounds to Aside: Special Kind of Crazy

[Monte Furlong]

"Since we are all here now...Drogo wanted us to contact you believing you had some pertinent intel about something called 'Obsidian', Drogo led me to believe it was possibly a ship...." Tara lowered her voice..."With a cargo hold full of Alliance gold."

Monte squinted briefly, as if trying to recall something from memory. He glance sideways toward the door, hearing another brief commotion outside.

"Perhaps we'd best take this conversation elsewhere. Yes, I know of Obsidian," he said in hushed tones, "but it is best not to mention THAT in crowded places."

He took one last swig from his beer and slide the mug back away from him. His right hand crept toward the automatic strapped under his armpit.

[Tara Marx]

Tara followed Monte's glance toward the entry, there was some sort of disturbance taking place just outside.

"Perhaps we'd best take this conversation elsewhere. Yes, I know of Obsidian," he said in hushed tones, "but it is best not to mention THAT in crowded places."
He took one last swig from his beer and slide the mug back away from him. His right hand crept toward the automatic strapped under his armpit.

Tara didn't show much reaction to Monte saying he knew Obsidian, she already knew that according to Drogo. She would have been more surprised if he denied any knowledge of it.

"Okay then we're not finding Lucky in here so let's move out." She motioned for the others to head for the exit. Maley led the way as Mattie brought up the rear. As Tara passed through the ramshackle swinging door she turned to Monte..."Okay Mister Furlong, have a quieter place in mind that we can have a chat?"

[Kasimir Stern]

[On board the Phoenix]

Kas sighed, and growled in annoyance. He was in the back of the shuttle with part of its engine in his hands. On the flight in the system readouts had displayed a minuscule loss of pressure in one of the coolant lines, and he'd been trying to hunt it down since they landed. Silje and Katrina had left some amount of time ago, Kas hadn't really cared to keep track of the time, the coolant line was more important. They'd gone off to meet with a man named Lucky that Kas had met very briefly some years ago, he had stayed because, again, the coolant line was more important in the short term. At least to him.

He replaced the part and removed another. He did this 3 more times before he found the problem. A seal that wasn't quite the correct level of tightness. He tightened it and replaced the offending part. Then he did a quick systems test to make sure that had indeed been the problem, which it had.

Finished with his task, he stood in the middle of the shuttles passenger area, gently swaying from side to side. He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but he didn't really feel like waiting at the shuttle. He looked around the shuttle bay, grunted in satisfaction that everything appeared to be in its proper place, and then left. He locked the shuttle behind him and wandered off to find Silje and Katrina.

Exits to Aside: Special Kind of Crazy

[Andes Maley]

Andes was only half following the conversation, his thoughts elsewhere until he heard Tara mention that it was time to make scarce in this bar. Leading the way to the door, he stood there scanning the crowd to see if anyone took notice. Once everyone else had cleared out, he duck out himself. He needed something to keep his mind from wandering again, hopefully there pickup at the bar could put them on the scent quickly.

[Katrina Markov]

Enters from Aside: Special Kind of Crazy

"I'll help, then I can ask your Lucky for a spot on your ship as recompense,"

Katrina returned a cold stare to Ophelia, as the girl glared at her. She wasn't good with people to begin with, children were a whole different story.  She trained to be a surgeon, not to be a pediatrician. But perhaps that was a mistake to think about it that way. However for now, her need to talk to or even acknowledge the girl was unnecessary. She broke eye contact with the girl and her gaze drifted across the crowd.  That drink Silje mentioned previously was starting to sound good,  especially since they were going to have to improvise their next few moves. 

However her gaze fell upon a familiar face, too familiar. Tara Marx.  They were to keep radio silence, so it's possible she had decided to come planet side to meet them and couldn't tell them...but it was unlikely.  Katrina silently nudged Silje, while keeping her eyes on Tara, as if to direct her attention to their Captain.

"If you all will excuse me, I see an old friend...Find out if our new acquaintance knows anything else will you." Kat smiled politely and exited the group, heading towards Tara, another old acquaintance came into view as she came closer, Mattie. Kat cleared her throat as she approached the brunette, "Captain Marx. Fancy meeting you here." She was uncertain of the two other men near by, but Tara didn't typically keep unfamiliar company near her.

[Tara Marx]

Tara knew they were in desperate need of a good hard lead, time was running out and if they didn't find Lucky soon she would be faced with the hard choice to move ahead without him. She was no sooner clear of the decrepit saloon when she heard her name. In the rush to locate Mister Wade she had completely forgotten about Phoenix.

"Captain Marx. Fancy meeting you here."

Tara turned to see where the familiar voice was coming from. She lifted a hand to shield her eyes from the bright sun light to see Gryphon's Doctor approaching. "Kat! ....glad to see you." Tara briefly looked past her to see Silje and Kas. "I take it that Lucky isn't with you." She added rather somberly. Tara then noticed as the others followed the Doctor that there was a girl with two large dogs....Tara motioned with her head in Ophelia direction. "Find some new friends did we?"

[Silje Falk]

Enters from Aside: Special Kind of Crazy

"If you all will excuse me, I see an old friend...Find out if our new acquaintance knows anything else will you."

Silje glanced towards where Kat was headed and immediately recognized the face that Kat had spotted. For now, even making eye contact with Tara, she let her face remain as neutral as her normal expression allowed for. Amused smile still in place, she looked to Ophelia, inwardly relieved that the girl was at least willing to work with them on Lucky's location. "Well, now, I'm glad we can at least make an agreement on finding our friend." The girl was indeed well connected, but she appeared to be travelling alone aside from the dogs.

Watching Kas interact with the dogs only made Silje smile larger. He did seem to have a way with animals, though given the owner's apparent frustration at the friendliness the dogs were displaying, Silje ventured a guess that they generally weren't all that lovable to others. "And how do Henri and Jane handle travel on a ship? Or have they even been up before?" They likely had and while it wasn't the line of questioning Kat had suggested, there was a need to break the tension of that particular subject, if only briefly.

[Monte Furlong]

Monte followed along with the women, glancing back to see if anyone else in the bar was paying any attention. It seemed clear, but one never knows. He shrugged his jacket firmly over his shoulders and felt the weigh of his peace bonded pistols against his waistband. As they left the dimmer interior of the bar and entered the brilliant daylight outdoors, he noticed the additional women along with a brace of great dogs, apparently approaching the same doorway they were leaving.

Tara recognized the newcomers and excused herself to greet them. Monte paused, his sight glancing over the new group and then casting out across the thoroughfare to watch for interlopers. He nodded briefly to the additional personnel and smiled a friendly grin.

"Name's Monte, ladies. Glad to meet you. Sorry if I can't be more informative at this moment, but you don't know who might be watching."

[Kasimir Stern]

Enters from Aside: Special Kind of Crazy

Kas reached out with his other hand to scratch the second dog behind the ears as well. When he spoke he didn't look at Ophelia, in fact his eyes were rarely still, scanning the surrounding area. "Mmm. Henri, and Jane? Nice names. Beautiful animals." He noticed Tara and Mattie exiting the bar just after Katrina did... along with two men he didn't recognize.

"If you all will excuse me, I see an old friend...Find out if our new acquaintance knows anything else will you."

Kas gave an Mmm of acknowledgement. He continued to pet the dogs for a few more moments before standing up and following Katrina. He walked purposefully, his face its usual oddly intimidating deadpan, straight up to Monte. When he stopped, the distance between his and Monte's face could be measured in inches. Kas made a noise in his throat, somewhere between an Hmm and a growl. "Don't know you." He said, his voice flat with hostility. "Or you." He pointed at Andes, but Kas's unblinking eyes never left Monte's.





(OOC: For reference this is how Kas is currently dressed, minus the hat)