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Viridian Rising
Topic Started: Jul 17 2015, 10:07 AM (8,612 Views)
PMD14
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Lighthouse Keeper

...// THE ELYSIAN DREAM

On board the Dream, Kenji had busied himself for an hour or so while the docking crews did their works. Arms cleaning, day to day maintenance checks, monitoring the local news feeds. It was about half an hour after the rest of his tiny crew had taken to downtown with parched throats that a message pinged itself into being on a console screen before the gunslinger.

"Not many folk who know where to find us here..." He spoke absently, to himself, and scrolled through the virtual dashboard in front of him on a handheld console. By now, the ship was quiet and cool, indifferent to the scorching heat outside.

On the screen was a series of messages that had been forwarded to him by his employer, J&C; cortex intercepts. Highly encrypted, text based,, disposable and non conforming messages usually used by those who wanted to operate in the dark.

Among the scrambled words Kenji spotted two of value to him: Elysian. Dream.

He immediately hastened to a jog, heading for the arms locker in his quarters, searching desperately on the console screen in front of him for a way to contact The Jack of Diamonds bar.


...// THE JACK OF DIAMONDS

Another few hands cycled through at the bar before the keen, 'civilised' men seated at the table started to understand that Biff was no backwater gunslinger. The pile of chips before him had grown and talk had gone from 'honest smuggling' to the local economy and the troubles in the regional settlements. Local politics - to help the high society suits keep a grasp of their self importance.

At the bar, Zeke's drinking companion had since stumbled away to engage in what looked like a potentially dangerous game of darts with a similarly intoxicated patron. Clearly the working day ended at noon for a lot of residents in this part of the city.

As the foreign pilot finished up his drink, the bartender arrived as if on cue and, with a grunt, took the glass.

"Don't suppose you pair..." He shifts an eyebrow at Biff, who was just raking in another sizable pot of coloured tokens, "... are the folk I'm looking for? Got a message come in for the crew of the Elsum Drone? Somethin' like that?" He gestured to the open door behind the bar, beyond which was a small office space.

Still watching the game - the crowd doing so had grown considerably since word had spread that some of the local high rollers were getting taken down a peg or two by some spacer - the dusky man cleared his throat inelegantly and pulled up a metal mug to spit into.

"It could be yes, that maybe I am offering of a job." He grinned a grin of grime and missing teeth at Monte.

"I know of your name, perhaps. I work with..." He trailed off a little, almost as if he wasn't quite sure how the sentence was meant to finish. Then he looked back up from his feet, face renewed with confidence, and his gaze shared bother Monte and Africa's attention.

"Perhaps, yes. But I know of no ship that you are.... occupation on board. Do you have plans maybe? Perhaps we could talk more... if there was ship?" He gave a sickly cough, almost reeling over from the convulsions, and again delivered something brown and goopy into the metal mug in his hand.

At the table, the pot had climbed to ridiculous size for a local bar game. One of the only other high stake players left - the portly man with rancher hat - who was glaring across the velvet at Mr Calhoon. It was all or bust, the gunslingers opponent having called his fortune 'all in'.
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Waelon Blake | Jimmy Chamberlain | Eli Harmon
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biffcalhoon
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This had gone better than Biff had even expected. It was nice to see he still had some skill at cards having been a bit rusty. Bets were made, hands were won, and Biff's chips piled high. It would help him personally but also help keep the Elysian Dream flying. With all the excitement Biff's attention had returned totally to the game. The only waft of surrounding conversation he heard was a key word "Elsum Drone." It was close enough to the Dream for him to note it but enough of a distortion that it didn't draw him out of the game. Several more hands pass some lost, many won.
Rancher
 
"All in."
Biff's focus was now at the exclusion of everything else in the bar. The cards, the game, his only remaining opponent were the world. His hand was excellent. Biff looked up from his hand across the table the portly rancher who had large drops of sweat forming on his brow. Their eyes met and a curl at the left side of Biff's mouth notched up in a sly smirk.

"You got it."

He laid his cards down....
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This Is My Quest - A tale of regret.
Nobody's Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone - Cole and Biff go walk about.
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MacTrom
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"Don't suppose you pair..." He shifts an eyebrow at Biff, who was just raking in another sizable pot of coloured tokens, "... are the folk I'm looking for? Got a message come in for the crew of the Elsum Drone? Somethin' like that?" He gestured to the open door behind the bar, beyond which was a small office space.


Monte's attention slid from the game back to the man, his eyes focusing tightly for a brief moment before a grin takes over his face.

"Point taken: we are currently unemployed, and could certainly be seeking employ, but no, we are not associated with any ship by any name, not even... what, Elsum Drone? No. Last we were on... well, it doesn't matter now, does it? We're engineer types. Could get a job about anywhere. What sort of position are you offering?"

There was still that small bit of caution. The last time Monte had blundered, he had ended up in a torture chamber due to mistaken identity. He wasn't so fast to offer his life, nor that of his Lady, to just any stranger. No back rooms. No, not this time.



Posted Image
But my heart is not weary, it's light and it's free I've got nothing but affection for all those who sailed with me
Stick with me baby, stick with me anyhow. Things should start to get interestin' right about now

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Tojoyama
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AFRICA CHAMBERLAIN

The back and forth between the stranger and Monte, she let it be - though she watched with interest. This was Monte's bailiwick, not hers. The stranger seemed to be offering a job of some kind, though his knowledge of just what it was and who he thought he was asking was sketchy.

Monte played it cool and acted quite dumbfounded as to what the stranger was getting at. they were just a couple of engineers looking for work. She wondered if she should get the captain's attention. Looking around she noticed the latest pot was substantial, quickly looked over the players.

Sonya Gulliver Description
Africa Chamberlain Description
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Unit894
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Mudder
His companion gone, Zeke had finished off his beer; the third in a row. Not having drunk for weeks, the German's tolerance had waned, and Zeke was a little unsteady on his feet. He had raised himself from the bar and had been wandering over to the game table where Biff was, focused completely on his cards with the intention of telling him that the pilot intended to return to the ship, when he caught wind of the bartender's words.

"Elsum Drone...Elsum Drone? You mean the Elysium Dream, friend? Because zat's us! What's the message?"
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PMD14
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Lighthouse Keeper

"Yeah, yeah. The Dream. Sure. This way." The barman sounded jaded, a man well over the idea of spaceships and fancy names. These out-of-worlders brought enough trouble to his establishment, he was hoping whatever these ones had been called up on would get them out of his hair.

The man led Zeke into the small room behind the bar where a console screen sat open. On it was a still frame off the
Dreams hallway, a slightly panicked looking Kenji looking straight at the engineer. So it wasn't live, but a recorded message, waiting to be played.

"Only came in a few minutes ago. Boy must be busy if he couldn't wait for a live uplink." The barman gestured to the screen, grunting.

Out in the bar a widespread hush grew through the onlookers as Biff, much to the confusion of several other players, called the final hand. His opponent, sweating and moments ago totally stone faced, suddenly looked in a panic. His eyes widened as the cards began to flip.

As there was a collective inhalation throughout the premises, the man speaking with Monte nodded and leaned in closer, as if waiting for his moment. Finally, as the eye of the storm passed, a cacophony of cheers and applause shook the bar as the final hand was played.

And the man whispered.

"I need you to have a ship, yes? And some faithful hands. And the position I need filled... A hunter." The man turned his head slightly, as if not at all aware of the celebrations around him, and for a moment his eyes rested on Africa. Then, they glanced to monte, meeting the treasure hunter eye to eye.

"The
Interitem Rimor. The Ark." His dark, black eyes widened as he spoke the words.

At the velveted table, Biff let go of the breath he hadn't known he was holding. His cards, old and warn and slightly sticky, lay triumphant in the middle of the table. His opponent sat in awe - to be fair, he'd had a good hand indeed. All around excitable locals and travellers alike cheered and congratulated the gunslinger and threw in their personal commentaries.

Biff hadn't realised just how much the small gathering had grown - the place was half full already.

In the small room behind the bar, Zeke hit play. Kenji started to move, speaking to the small recording device he held before him. His brow was sweating, he was running.

"Zeke, Biff... We've got a situation back here. You need to get back to the
Dream... And fast. Bring spare gun hands if you can and-"

The message came to an abrupt halt and that was that.
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Unit894
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Mudder
Zeke blinked at the screen, utterly gobsmacked that everything could have gone so wrong so quickly. He looked over at the barman, who stared impassively back, and rallied himself.

He nodded to the man, and strode out into the bar; his destination once again Biff. Once the cowboy was within reach, Zeke slapped his hand onto Biff's shoulder. He span around to accost whoever had grabbed him, but when he was it was Zeke he calmed down. Before he could talk, Zeke blurted out.

"Kenji is in trouble! I'm going to go back to the ship now, you grab some folk who look like zey know how to fight. Hurry!"

With that, Zeke hurried out of the bar, quickly increasing in speed until he was sprinting towards the Dream.
Edited by Unit894, Oct 16 2015, 09:53 AM.
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Tojoyama
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Cap'n
AFRICA CHAMBERLAIN.

She noticed the hurried movements of a man moving to the winner of the card game. With a smooth shift she took a couple steps closer and overheard the plea for the man to get his acquaintance.

Then back near Monte, who's attention she knew she would have trouble getting after the mention of a lost Ark. It looked like people needed help... at their ship. They needed a ship, the other stranger the same.

"Monte, I think we have an opportunity. Some folk," her eyes moved to Biff and Zeke, who now hurried away. "... are in trouble."

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MacTrom
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Monte nodded to Africa in response. He flipped his jacket free to expose the twin auto pistols strapped into the shoulder rig.

"Let's go see who needs what and what we can offer."



Posted Image
But my heart is not weary, it's light and it's free I've got nothing but affection for all those who sailed with me
Stick with me baby, stick with me anyhow. Things should start to get interestin' right about now

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Biff raked up the chips triumphantly glad his instinct was right. Watching the number pass into digital form on his cortex he stowed a mere 500 credits privately to his account. The ample pot close to 10,000 credits, when did it get so high, he deposited into the Dream's general fund. He placed the still over half full whiskey bottle on the table for whoever was in need when Zeke tapped his shoulder.
Zeke
 
"Kenji is in trouble! I'm going to go back to the ship now, you grab some folk who look like zey know how to fight. Hurry!"
Zeke charged out of the bar. Biff spun out of his chair and almost tripped over a couple on his way out. One opened his jacket Biff saw his posture and weapons.
Quote:
 
"Let's go see who needs what and what we can offer."
Relief sweeped over him as his first instinct was they meant him harm. "Thank you." Was all he could say as he darted out the door.

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Narrator of: Family Ties Bind Tight

This Is My Quest - A tale of regret.
Nobody's Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone - Cole and Biff go walk about.
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AFRICA CHAMBERLAIN

Africa spoke to Monte, "I'll follow." It was enough, Monte being aware of her abilities of observation. She would notice anyone following them.

As Biff and Zeke led the way, she ran a few steps behind Monte, looking left and right just enough to keep on eye on anything behind them. The race to Elysium Dream was like water flowing through the tavern and the route to the docks, people moved about with some mild interest in their haste. They drew some attention, but people in a hurry didn't seem to draw attention from many. A few were alerted that these folk were in a frightful hurry though, she gave them a more concerted glance to see if there was to be any intervention, friendly or hostile.

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PMD14
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Lighthouse Keeper

With winnings in hand, Biff reunited with Zeke as the pair made their way out the door, two new companions following in their stead. The two crew mates had barely spoken a word to the newcomers, solely satisfied with their trustworthiness by the weapons the man had on display.

Through the streets the four caused commotion as they cut through the crowds and doged traffic. The shipyard wasn't far away, but the peak afternoon rush of people trying to get home, or to somewhere they could buy a drink, choked up the groups hasty rush. Ten minutes were killed before they arrived back on the scene, the arc of the Dream rising up ahead of them over the small shuttles in the dock.

There was no one in sight, no potential danger - just a quiet afternoon in the ship yard.

The Dream's main cargo ramp was down and, as the four approached, a breathless Kenji arrived at the bottom of it. Behind him, laid out flat on the ramp, was his prisoner and bounty - a scruffy looking Ferris Hallagan. The man was still out cold, a dark bruise slowly showing on his forehead. It looked like Kenji had been in a rush and someone had been less than cooperative.

"We... got... a problem..." The gunhand let the words out in a whisper, between deep breaths, before looking up at the group before him. His eyes narrowed slightly when he noticed the newcomers.

"Friends... of ours?" He directed the question to Biff and Zeke. Something about the woman was familiar.
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Tojoyama
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Africa recognized the man from a rescue she had assisted in an alley.

'Minori' seemed to be aware of who she was, but for some reason did not make it known. Though she could not fathom why he wouldn't want to make a reaquainting gesture.

Spacers though, often had reasons.

Africa looked around to see if anyone was taking notice of the unconscious figure on the ramp. She turned back, "Africa Chamberlain," bowed, and turned to Monte, "and Monte Furlong." Still, she should acknowledge him, somehow...

"You look like a man I once met in an alley." she said simply, not aware of the sort of implications one might assume by such a meeting.
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Boots fall after boot fall Biff ran catching up to Zeke just before they reached the Dream's ramp. "Zeke what?.... Seeing the unconscious man and Kenji obviously winded. "What happened here and what is our problem now?" The two good samaritans who had followed from the bar reached them before Kenji got a word out.

Africa
 
"Africa Chamberlain and Monte Furlong."
Biff now took a minute to size them up. They both seemed to be able to hold their own. Intelligence sparked in both their eyes. The fact that they came running to the aid of strangers was the nail in the coffin. Biff liked them right away. I'm Biff Calhoon this is Zeke Bryandt, and this is..." Kenji patted the bounty on his shoulder in a way that made Biff think the man needed first aid. He ran up the ramp and began checking the basics. He had a pulse, he was breathing and his head though injured didn't require any care. He was about to ask Kenji what was the matter when his Cortex vibrated. There were only a handfull of key words that made that happen. Pulling it out he touched the screen. Most Wanted in the Verse! "Gorram it all." He whispered to himself. The news wave had just about every keyword he had programed to hit in it. One train wreck at a time Biff.

Africa
 
"You look like a man I once met in an alley."
Biff looked up first to Kenji then the newly met Africa. The latter did not strike him as a backalley prostitue that were found all over this verse. Interesting. He thought.
Edited by biffcalhoon, Nov 10 2015, 06:04 PM.
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Narrator of: Family Ties Bind Tight

This Is My Quest - A tale of regret.
Nobody's Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone - Cole and Biff go walk about.
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Lighthouse Keeper

In one hand Kenji had a small cortex uplink. Still panting, he stood up right, trying to mouth words but unable to get much out. Instead, he just passed the console to Biff as he nodded to the newcomers. The woman's words seemed to bounce off him, though there was a look on his face that said he had a story to tell.

On the console screen was a series of decrypted text based messages, presumably from the employer Kenji had come here to deliver to. The private firm looking for the bounty now laying on the cargo ramp of the Dream.

The messages painted a vivid picture - this bounty, it turned out, had some friends in low places. People who knew he was here, that he was in custody, and that he was on board a recently landed vessel named the Elysian Dream.

The silence of the ship yard suddenly made sense. A storm was coming.

Tagged to the end of the last message was an address - an office building on the other side of the downtown area. They needed transport.
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Biff looked at the offered Cortex frowning. This was bad. Very bad. For once why couldn't something so smooth. He looked up from the device. "Alright Zeke gear up." Looking at Kenji he said, "You too." Turning towards Africa and Monte he hoped against hope they had been here a little longer and knew of a place to find wheels. "Africa, Monte do either of you know where we can hire some transport to haul this sad sack across town? We have some of this gents unsavory friends heading our way. If you are still willing to help us beyond finding transport we have an armory aboard you can restock with."
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This Is My Quest - A tale of regret.
Nobody's Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone - Cole and Biff go walk about.
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"And a pretty penny, too... this ain't all for nothing." Having caught his breath enough to squeeze out a smirk, Kenji directed his sales pitch to the newcomers. It was clear that, regardless of words or actions they may very well have exchanged in the past, he was setting aside that story for the time being.

He extended a hand to Monte, then Africa.

"Gun lockers' in the back of the bay."
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Zeke winced at Biff's attempted pronunciation of his last name, before jogging into the Elysium Dream. As he moved, a sudden thought came to him.

"What did that woman just call Kenji?"

He pushed it to the side of his attention, and focused on getting to his room. Once there, he grabbed his revolver; sliding it into its shoulder holster and stuffing his larger pistol into the back of his trousers.

Properly equipped, Zeke hurried back to his friends.

"Okay, vot is going on here? Do we need to be ready for a quick getaway?"
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By the time Zeke had returned, Kenji was back to his normal self. His eyes kept darting around the surprisingly quiet ship yard, but otherwise he was more collected. Instantly, having friendly gunhands by his side - folk he could trust - the old soldier felt at ease.

"Ok... yeah. So I got a wave, was contacted by my..." His eyes looked at the unconscious body of his quarry, Hallagan, and then he gave Africa and Monte a knowing look, "... my business partners. The one's we're making the delivery to. It was a warning." He wiped his brow, pulling Big Iron from his belt and checking it was ready for some action.

"Apparently our little wanted friend here has some local buddies. Some big, scary local buddies. Some kind of planet-side gang, that's what I gathered." He paused, looking up at the hulk of the Elysian Dream above them. "And they know we're here."

Almost on cue, the afternoon sun was spliced in half by a thick cloud passing in front of it, the ship yard falling into shadow. Without another soul in sight, it wasn't difficult for the small assembled crew to spot the two wheeled mules entering the yard from its western gate. The pair of small vehicles were about a half mile off, but it was clear they were headed this way.

Each had four figures hanging from them.

"J&C... the PI's who have our pay cheque. We need to get him to their headquarters, fast. It's an office building just across the downtown area. On foot, probably half an hour stroll, but..." He glanced at the oncoming mules. They didn't have time for a stroll.

Kenji started to move, then realised he had no destination. They couldn't fly there - there was nowhere to land the ship. They didn't have wheels on board the Dream.

No... they needed to... commandeer a way across town.
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Biff listened to Kenji's intel formulating an idea. Looking out to the approaching mules it came to him. They were only outnumbered by three but the enemy didn't know that. "If they know we're here and are on their way, it stands to reason that they don't know about Africa and Monte. I'm thinking that we meet them here and Africa and Monte approach from behind." He shrugged a little and smirked. "Then we borrow their mules to complete our task."
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This Is My Quest - A tale of regret.
Nobody's Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone - Cole and Biff go walk about.
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