The St. Anne

Sigr · May 26, 2017

Sonakshi nodded with an audible gulp, trying to keep her stomach from revolting. She had seen a lot of shit in her days, and the human body no longer caused her any queasy feelings, but this was different. She was partaking on a robbery with violence, and even if she wasn't taking matters into her own hands, she was part of it all the same, to the point of asking Donovan to murder people in cold blood. Stepping out of the clinic as quickly as the boxes allowed her to do, she breathed in deeply, followed by a series of slow, hardly controlled gasps. The air down there was stale and tasted of iron, and she found herself at the limit. Carefully leaving the boxes on the ground and her suitcase on top, she stumbled to a corner, emptying her stomach with teary eyes. She kicked the wall, slapped herself a couple of times and after breathing deeply, she set herself straight, managing her clothes and hair.

"Do no harm" she hissed to no one, cleaning her face and eyes. It had been just a moment, a line of dominoes falling out of a combination of ruthless need and unmatched force. Just a few hours ago everything was mostly fine, and now- Donovan was exiting the place with a bag of cash. "Your methods? Your methods?!" Sonakshi lost it, getting close to Donovan and looking up to his face. "We can't just buy out of killing people with stolen money! Maybe it's normal for you but now I have to live with that! It's like I killed them myself" she slowly recovered her calm after the initial outburst, knowing that such a thing would take her nowhere. "We need to get this to the ship and I personally need a shower and a booze bottle" she confessed, grabbing the boxes and the suitcase off the ground, standing still thinking.

"Fuck the good, we can't make up for it by sharing the spoils. Most of the people around will kill each other for that money or spend it on bullshit anyways" Sonakshi decided, feeling numb inside. "And we may need the cash to bail us out of this fuckup we made, be it spending it on bribes or whatever" she admitted, being practical, starting to walk towards the upper levels and the safety of the ship. "What the fuck are we going to tell Iona? I don't know if I can lie convincingly, and..." her voice trembled a little. "I don't want to get kicked out of the St. Anne. It's the only place feeling something of a home that I found" she kept walking with decision, as if reaching the ship would be the same as awaking from a nightmare.

BennyQ · May 26, 2017

Thomyris “Riz” Heroux
Location: Kohlberg Station
Tagged: Iona Knutedottir

So much was happening in so short a time, leaving Thomyris reeling inside. She wasn’t trying to be slick or business savvy, just logical and what she thought seemed rational. She didn’t do it for points with the Captain or the crew. She needed money too, for her own reasons. At the very least two crew members can simply pick up a crate and overturn it atop of one of ours. Moving the stuff shouldn’t be difficult, just time consuming. Probably be more worries of getting dirty and smeared with volcanic ash than any elbow sores.

Something about the squeezing of her shoulder sent a flutter of tingles down her spine and her expression was utterly surprised in a pleasant sort when the Captain promised bumping her up to third mate. Of the entire ship? This was all starting to seem too good to be true. Her eyes were darting to and fro with the possibilities all that would entail, half missing what the Captain was saying about meeting the merchant and the product in question. Vouch for you as a third mate candidate before the guild… That would garner her a larger cut, a pay raise, and all sorts of benefits. A small heft in the repaying of her loan, but still a forward progress nonetheless. Thomyris could not deny she was feeling very elated afterwards.

Thomyris wouldn’t know much about farming practices – she had come from a mining background herself, used to tearing up the ground, not cultivating it. But the Captain’s offers of side work and personal business had her thinking deeply, trying to visualize and picture how it might be done given St. Anne’s cubic spacing, the size of her cargo hold, and even secondary, unused chambers where a few extra pounds, ounces, or tons of consignment can be placed as well.

She was also coming into possession of a bunch of ash smeared boxes and crates. Those would have to be stored somewhere until they could be offloaded. Oh, the joys of that...

“Business is business and personal is personal.” She repeated, grasping the concept, though she didn’t think it would be necessary for her to make any such decisions. She had no intention of becoming a Captain herself, whether on her own or replacing Iona. As for recyclers… “We should at least see if the consignment is still up for grabs. Then we can visit one of those botany shops and see what sort of plants they stock, if they have what you referred to.” Thomyris figured. Most ships that made long distance treks and journeys through space often had some sort of green room or gardens. It helped with certain essentials, like air, food, and just plain nice looking aesthetics, a much valued contrast from the blackness of space and the drab colours of a ship’s interior. Of course, it all depended on the quality of the store that happened to be on this particular station, of which she had not seen one yet. Maybe the others had.

“I can speak to our new cook maybe…Jin I think is her name? She seems good with plants and so forth, especially when it comes to her profession. Maybe she can assist in overseeing cultivation of recycler plants for the upcoming journey. I’ll ask the others if they see any such shops. Will make it easier for us and not waste time trekking all over the Station for it. I’ll arrange something with her and keep you informed.” So as the Captain turned to lead them towards the Brarvis merchant, Thomyris took her datapad and sent a worded message on the All-Hands Channel. Drop a nav-tag if you see any botany stores.

She had no clue what the other crew members were getting up to. Partying and relaxing no doubt while she tagged along with the Captain. Tagged along… Thomyris hoped it was just that, but her pace behind the taller woman seemed to slow as doubt once more set in deeply within her chest and mind. “Captain, you don’t…you don’t expect me to negotiate with the man do you? I never…arranged a deal of any sort like this before.” She stated, before skipping ahead a step to close the distance her anxiety had caused, once more at the Captain’s elbow, looking up at her intently. “I’m not really in the mood for being lynched by the crew because we couldn’t get any work due to me biting the poor idiot too hard.” She added in her dry, sarcastic tone.

She had the analytics and their ship’s details on her datapad at the ready, in case the merchant wished to verify any of their information. It might take some convincing that they could somehow load more onto their Dogged-size vessel than what its cargo size indicated.

The man in question was a grey haired, middle aged individual with a weathered, beaten face and a very bored expression. Ash was embedded under his nails, giving them a blackish tint, much like the dark bags under his eyes. Stressed, he would either be more than willing to find a mover for his cargo or would be utterly suspicious and cranky with the details. “Buying or selling?” He asked when they approached, not even bothering to look up to gauge who they were. He had his ledger out, an actual physical tome rather than something digital, flipping through the pages. There was a lot of red inked figures on his books, indicating losses.

And behind the two women was another who was watching them, having overheard their business talk completely. Recycler plants? The perfect bait was about to be dangled in front of them soon.

Kosmik_Khaos · May 28, 2017

Donovan
Kohlberg Station
Midwatch
Tagged: Sonakshi

Donovan watched the short woman as she exploded in anger and got in his face. Calmly he took her outburst and only smiled in return. "You really don't think very highly of me do you Doc? You really think I would just go into a place, kill everyone that looks at me funny and rob them blind for personal gain then try to pay off my sins by giving some of my ill gotten goods to the common folk?" He shook his head in disappointment. "In all my years I have never once stepped foot in a legit hospital. It's always been clinics like that, and you generally have three types, My favorite being those ran by doctors like yourself, the ones that say fuck the rules, do what is necessary to save lives. Then there are the hacks that are in it for the money and cheep thrills of having someones life in their hands. Then there are the fucks that I just murdered. Criminals who are part of a bigger picture, that pull people off the street to harvest organs, or sell their clients into slavery when they cannot pay the bill after they get fixed."

Walking beside Sonakshi he opened the bag he was carrying and pulled out a stack of papers. "I said I took all their cash and valuables. This here is a list of all the people that couldn't pay their fees and were sold, had organs harvested, and were just pain killed on the operating table. People in that kind of business like to keep as small a trail as possible, but at the same time have enough dirt stock piled up so that if their backers try to screw them they have enough proof to sink them. I could tell from the moment we got in front of the doors that the kid took us to a place where we would be killed, harvested and whatever remained incinerated. When I stepped inside my suspicions were confirmed by the thugs inside instead of an assistant or clerk." Tucking the stack of papers back into the bag he grinned in a self satisfied manner that gave his face a very punchable look.

"You helped a monster kill other monsters. Feel as bad as you want, hate me to the ends of the universe, I don't care. I won't loose a second of sleep over taking out people like that. As for what we tell Iona. We went looking for meds and other supplies, I found them, and did a little cleaning up in the process. As first mate I will accept all responsibility for what happened and any punishments shall fall on my head not yours."

"As for keeping the money, you can have it, I have more than enough, I am going to find whatever I can on these people and their clients and start a horrible Christmas mailing list. Send each of the bastards something infectious that will turn their genitals into a festering, blistered covered, burning, half melted pile of slag. Or something explosive." Once again Donovan's face took on the familiar mask of reckless insanity as he lead Sonakshi out of the 'underground' and back into society.

Donovan
St. Anne
Midwatch
Tagged: Sonakshi

Donovan paid the shuttle pilot and gave him a decent tip before sending the man on his way. On their way back he stopped to buy Sonakshi a bottle of fine liquor using his own money for it as a gesture of good will between the two. Taking the boxes and bags from her once on board he carried them to the infirmary for her. "You go enjoy your shower and bottle, I have some digging to do." As he left the infirmary he paused standing beside Sonakshi and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Once you get out you can have at me and be extra rough about getting this slug outta my shoulder." He said with a smirk before walking away. "Don't even try to argue, this is an order from your superior, drink, shower, drink more, then you can operate on the madman." He called back to her steadily walking away.

He had left the cash in the bag with the rest of the supplies they acquired taking out the data sticks and paper documents of the clinic's less than reputable dealings. Dark thoughts swirled around in his head, accompanied by voices suggesting all sorts of wonderfully horrid things to do to any of the buyers on the list if he got a hold of them. Being a virtual slave by birth, then a human experiment numbed Donovan's morality when it came to people who dealt in human trafficking and forced medical procedures. Going to his quarters he sat on the plain bunk, eyes blazing as they zipped across the pages one by one pulling out all the important in formation and storing it at high speeds. He would explain to Iona what he had done to get the new supplies for the Doctor and tell her about the people he got them from. Not to justify her actions, but to let her know that he had possibly made himself even more enemies for them to watch out for.

He read and re-read the paper documents before going through the data sticks, which were much more detailed in what had been going on in the clinic and a more detailed listing of clientele while waiting to be called on by Sonakshi to get patched up.

Sigr · May 28, 2017

Doctor Sonakshi Khan
St. Anne
Midwatch
Tagged: Donovan.

Sonakshi dragged her feet into her quarters, leaving the loot on the ground for a moment, she sat on her bed and stared at the wall for a while. She hadn't been able to come with a decent answer to Donovan's appreciation of the situation, nor has she been able to argue with him once on the ship. He was probably right, after all he had the experience, so it was likely that the clinic was in fact a den of black hearted people that deserved Donovan in their cut short lives. It wasn't that she thought low of him, nor did she hate him, but she had not found the strength, the will to correct that wrong. After all, if she did thing bad of him, if she did hate him, that should keep her busy, free of guilt.

Only that it wasn't working.

Donovan was only the top dog in that nasty situation they had ended in, his violence, his ruthlessness just the ingredients that allowed the both of them to exit that place alive. He could be a monster, but only because he had to be, they needed him to be. In fact, it was her who allowed it, the one that indulged the idea of getting into that mess with him. Iona had told her to separate want from need, so... if they didn't, if Sonakshi herself didn't need to get into that trouble with Donovan, did that meant that she wanted it? After all, if what Donovan said was true and there was no reason to doubt him, he lashed out of need, to survive, to save both her and himself. Sure, he said so with a face that was asking to get some knuckles bashed it, but even if he could be unhinged, or take advantage of looking like he was, Sonakshi believed him. That meant that Donovan had acted to save them. And also meant that she had asked him to murder the kid and the doctor in cold blood without knowing it.

Fuck.

She leaned down, stashing the cash under her bed for a time of need, retrieving at the same time the clear bottle that was down there. Opening it, the aroma of spices and herbs of the gin flew in her nostrils, lifting her up as some smelling salts would. She sometimes joked about her drink of choice citing its versatility as both booze and perfume, but now wasn't the time for jest, as she downed a chug of it like nothing. The alcohol burned through, making Sonakshi wish that it also reduced to ash what she was feeling at the moment, but even if it didn't do the trick, it certainly numbed her enough. She had work to do, so she took the supplies to the nearby clinic, finding distraction and comfort in storing them, getting everything into order, making inventory of it all.

Grabbing a set of clothes, Sonakshi headed to the locker room and took a shower, alone and calm. Most of the crew had already cleaned and changed to enjoy the two day permit, so there wasn't no one else to bother her. It didn't do much, but at least she was no longer feeling gross nor had that charged smell of the hellhole they had been in. Getting herself into one of her unflattering fatigues, navy blue this time, she felt a bit better when she donned back her white coat. Yes, she was the doctor of the St. Anne, there was good people there, good people she could help, she had to help. That didn't excuse doing anything to help them, or did it?

Wanting to set her mind into a more practical matter that didn't include torturing herself, she went to Donovan's quarters and knocked on the metal door. "Come to the clinic so I can get that shit out of you" she barked through the door, and this time she wasn't going to allow Donovan to delay it anymore. It wasn't that the only thing that brought her there, although it certainly was the most important. "My silence may have given you the wrong idea, but I don't hate you. And I do think highly of you, and what you do for us" she commented on the way to the clinic, the closest thing to an apology she could muster at the time. "Being in your position, being forced to see and share what you do... I guess it's not that it felt like too much, although it did" confessed, Donovan sure could smell a strange mix of shampoo and gin on her. "It was how easily I fell into your pace, how eager I was to do what was needed to protect the St. Anne and its crew, even if it meant murdering people and torching that place. Doing it through you only made it easier" Sonakshi opened the clinic, stepping in with Donovan.

"I'm sorry for using you like that" she apologized this time, putting some gloves on and taking her instruments. "Get those clothes off, lets patch you up" she pointed with a gloved finger, her hands as steady as always. Feeling a tad relieved after talking, feeling safe in a controlled environment, Sonakshi proceeded to take care of Donovan's injuries, treating him as gently as possible, not wanting to be the source of more pain that day, not wanting to do harm.

nothingbutspacejunk · May 28, 2017

Mateo Reyes
Midwatch
Shuttleport
Tagged: N/A

Most of the away team had gotten back to the shuttleport already. Mateo had told Jin-lai and Serena to go ahead and get in line for the beach shuttle and dropped off some of the supplies and cook ware at the shuttle. While he was loading the shuttle a few guards noticed the cyborg by himself.

"Wait... isn't that? Shit I gotta get Marlowe." One of them bolted off to the office. Within minutes four guards emerged from the station's back room. They were fully loaded out to take someone down, with body armor and three of them carried assault rifles. The nail bomb went off about a half hour ago, within another half hour the attack would make news so the customs guards had to spring the trap in the next half hour.

Mateo finished up and grabbed his bag with sunblock and sealant and headed towards the terminals pointing toward the beach transit. When he approached he found no line despite the overall busy day. Mateo was even more alarmed the two customs officers ahead of him were dressed down in riot gear. "Stop there. This terminal is off limits, there was an attack at the beach shuttleport less than an hour ago." one guard said, raising his arm. His friend stepped a few steps ahead and eyed him down before talking. "We have reason to believe that the organizers of the attack were augmented. Would you mind answering a few questions? Nothing invasive, just standard protocol in these situations."

This is a con or a setup. Probably both. "Sure. Let's talk out here." Mateo responded tersely. His grip tightened around his duffel bag and he stared the customs agents down. "Actually we have a backroom we interview people in. If you'd just step over here..." The agent walked over and punched in a combination at the door and made a gesture for him to go inside. "You're kidding right? This is the most hard up I've ever seen a customs agent try to extort people." Mateo scoffed. The guard next to him raised his rifle to hip level, barrel aiming straight at Mateo's chest. "Don't make this difficult."

Mateo sighed and started walking towards the room, the guard that was now behind him snatched his duffel bag off of his shoulder. He entered the room ahead of him to find two guards with disruptor prods, a type of stun baton designed specifically to nonlethally shut down people with cybernetics. Mateo heard two sets of boots click behind him and suddenly he was in a very small room with four guards surrounding him.

"I see. I thought you guys were trying to hit me up for money. What did Iona not give you a discount or something? Let it go. Trying to take me in will get at least one of you killed." Mateo said, the last part didn't even really come off as a threat, but stated like a simple fact. "Yeah. You can try robot." the guard in front of him to the left said. Mateo sighed and pinched the bridge to his nose. This is going to suck.

Within a second his left arm shot up towards the guard in front of him and latched on to his throat. There was some resistance at first due to his helmet, but the metal limb found way to skin. Mateo crushed his flesh, windpipe, and spinal column with one swift motion, the custom agent's head turning 45 degrees as his spine separated from his torso. Mateo released him and the agent fell to the ground lifeless. The cyborg then used his right arm to grab the elbow of the sole female custom agent. He used his fingers to crush her arm at the joint, the customs agent hollering in pain. Before he could turn around he felt two point lighting up on
his back like fire. It felt like electricity shot throughout his body, even his metal limbs that didn't have pain receptors began to hurt in a numb sort of way. He felt his body gradually shut off, his legs went limp, his arms splayed at his side, and both of his eyes shut off not long after. Mateo's heart seemed to slow, but the technology inside of him kept it beating.

On the ground Mateo was pretty much trapped in his own body, weakly groaning. He could still hear the guards around him, specifically the female who's arm he crushed. "Fuck! That clank son of a bitch, my arm!" she screamed out. Mateo heard the footsteps circle around the woman's screams. "Shit, Pagan, set her arm back into place. I'll make a sling." One of the voices commanded. For the next few minutes Mateo heard nothing but the sounds of trying to treat a broken arm. After a sickening snap, the agent began to calm herself somewhat. "Thanks Pagan." the agent said drawing closer. Mateo felt three sharp kicks to his chest and cried out with each strike. "Asshole," the deepest voice in the room started, walking towards him, "Ajeet is totally dead. How are we going to explain that?" There was a pause. "I don't know. Helena, start up the shuttle. Pagan and I will drag chrome boy out there and we can take off."

Mateo felt a pair of hands prop him up against the wall. "Shit it doesn't look like his hearing is augmented at all." He felt the hands explore his body and yanked on his headphones. "I guess these will do for the shuttle ride up there." Mateo probably made a confused face as he felt the headphones set gently around his ears. No the only loaded right now is my beach playlist. Shit, I wanted to listen to this near the ocean... After a few clicks on his music player he heard Dirt McGirt introduce the rest of the Wu-Tang Clan.

-specta Deck! Dirty Ol' gettin' low with his flow, introducin' the GHOST FACE KILLLLAAAAHHH, no one can get iller.

After being dragged around to indiscriminate places for about an hour, including what he believed to be a shuttle off planet, he had the headphones taken off of his ears. "Shit his eyes are freaking me out. They're open but grayed out. Turn on one of his eyes so we can hold a decent conversation." One of the agents opened messed with his left eye briefly and sight came back to the cyborg. Mateo blinked it out for a few seconds and found him in a white room with a one way mirror. He looked at the guards around him, each had taken off their helmets and staring at him. His gaze lingered a second at the female agent's arm, crudely set back into place and appeared to be in a sling made of a towel. The metal man looked at his self in the one way mirror noting his state. His hair was disheveled, one eye of his was the usual pale blue, but the other one that was deactivated had this lifeless gray color to it. His augmentations hung limply from the chair and he was tied up with rope.

"...why rope? If my arms worked I could snap this in a second. Oh no wait, I think I get it, you like tying people up. I can relate, there was this one girl who lived not too far from my farm when I was growing up. I learned how to tie knots when I was a kid, but I didn't get proficient until I started hanging out with her. Ah, the memories of tying someone up in a barn." Mateo sighed, reminiscing in the good old days. This comment was met with the butt of a rifle.

"Shut up. Helena, get the camera on that comm ready. We should send this out." the apparent leader motioned at her. "Why do I have to hold the camera?" Everyone in the room stopped and looked at her direction. "Oh hey, we're holding the most deadly person in your crew hostage with guards with injuries, don't try an armed rescue by the way," the leader then thumped her upside the head, "No, you get to record the ransom tape. Pagan, visors down." Both of the males flipped the visors on the helmet down. Most deadly? Maybe ten years ago or in power armor. Mateo thought as they gathered into position.

Everyone got into their relative positions and began to record a ransom video. Their leader did most of the talking, some shit about needing a heavy lifter and something about debtors not being able to escape the law or some cockamamie. Then he said something interesting. "...if you want your main loader and only combat specialist aboard the ship back, you'll trade us the debtor Thomyris Heroux. His life, for hers. We'll be waiting at the attached location at midnight tonight. If you don't show we'll take Mr. Reyes here to a chop shop and have all of his augmentations sold off. I suggest you think carefully."

Mateo scrunched his face for a second and looked confused. Riz is a debtor? Explains why she never goes off world. Only combat specialist? I mean it's true I probably have the most experience, but... oh shit they don't know about Donovan. At that last thought Mateo burst out into joyous laughter while the tape was still rolling prompting both of the agents to flinch a little. "You guys are SO fucked." Mateo said with a chuckle. Once again he was met with a rifle butt, this time opening a cut on his forehead. Mateo could feel the viscous liquid slowly travel down his face and could see it in the one way mirror. He might need stitches after this.

The leader quickly looked back into the camera lens, "At the coordinates we provide, midnight, bring Heroux." After that he traced his index finger across his throat and the recorder shut off the camera. "Send it to their ship. As for you," the leader said turning to face him, "we have a few questions we'd like you to answer..." The next two hours didn't really involve questions as much as it was just a concentrated ass beating. I just wanted to go to the beach man...

AnnaBeth · May 28, 2017

NOTE: This post contains a time change

Iona Knutesdottir
Kohlberg Station
Evening Watch
Tagged: Thomyris

"Deal," he finally said, the negotiation for the cargo had taken almost an hour, and thumbprinted the data pad between them, confirming his acceptance of the terms. Iona added hers and the screen winked green, indicating it had been filed with and accepted by the stationside computer. The St. Anne now had the legal right to the cargo and the obligation to carry it, the shipper had funds in escrow pending delivery with a third of the payment up front to cover operating costs. It was by far from the best deal she'd ever made but with Thomyris' clever and undisclosed plan to carry it bulk instead of containerized, Iona felt pretty good about the final terms.

Ignoring it and them, the broker began updating his paper ledger, pen scritching over the pages.

"Let's celebrate," she said as they left and entered the souk. "My treat," Iona added. "I could really go for a nice tall cold glass of sp-"

Iona stopped talking abruptly as a woman stopped in front of them, smiling and holding her hands loosely by her side, as if to show she didn't have anything. "You're looking for recycler plants," she said and waited.

Iona didn't bother asking how the woman knew. They had discussed their business in public, with no particular care to keep it secret, and every market had networks of people hired as eyes and ears that gleaned random bits of conversation and reported it for tenth-creds that they hoped would pay off later as the crucial piece to a puzzle to someone. The ear that had heard their conversation was about to get a nice payoff.

"Potassium scavengers," she said. "Suitable for-"

"Zienus, yes. I have just the thing," the woman interrupted. "Now I bet you were just about to celebrate closing the deal," her head twitched towards where they'd just exited. "Why not let me buy you those drinks and discuss our business at the same time?"

"All right," Iona said after the briefest of pauses. It was far from unusual but it still gave her an odd feeling. Something wasn't quite right but she didn't think it was dangerous except in a financial sense. "Lead on, friend."

"Mung, like the bean. Sandra Mung," she gave her name. "See? I'm all about plants," she offered and laughed.

A few minutes later they were in a back alcove of a watering spot with the glimmer of a privacy shield between them and the rest of the establishment. There was no direct visual, the curve of a station bulkhead providing the extra bit of privacy. Iona's back was to the privacy shielded opening, something which Donovan had told her never, ever, ever to do but he was just paranoid. Thomyris was on her left and both had been supplied with the drink of their choice; Iona's was in a beer mug, sides rimed with slushy ice, but the liquid inside was coldly crisp spring water, shipped up from the planet, and it had a wonderful taste. Hell, it had a taste and wasn't flat and lifeless like the stuff from the shipboard recyclers.

"My partner is bringing us a sample," Sandra said while they exchanged pleasantries. "It's a rice variant. Grows submerged and semi-submerged and it uptakes potassium preferentially," she stumbled over the word like she hadn't said it much before. "It, uh," her head cocked just the slightest bit to the side and Iona realized she couldn't see the woman's ears, hidden by her hair, and suddenly understood the woman was listening and repeating the information.

Flicking a look at Thomyris, Iona leaned back in her chair a little bit. "What gives, sister? I thought you were the dealer, not a middle man. What kind of drek is this?"

"The kind where you sit real fucking still," said a voice behind her and Iona felt a whisper of air as the privacy shield was disturbed when the man walked through. The widening of Thomyris' eyes was enough to let Iona knew there was probably a-

Yep. Hard metal poked through her hair and tapped painfully against a vertebra of her neck. Had to be a pistol of some sort. Donovan could have instantly spun around like a spider on meth and done something her eyes could never have sorted out and then there would be two dead assholes and that weird as anything look on his face in the aftermath. Iona wouldn't even get past the point of thinking about it before they'd gun her down. "Sitting still," she confirmed, her only movement to cut her eyes to Thomyris and shake her head very slightly to discourage the young woman from doing anything stupid.

The man remained unseen but the barrel withdrew off her skin. Sandra, if that was her name, took out a pistol of her own from beneath her clothing and held it on Thomyris, shaking slightly with excitement. "We got them," she said and giggled. "We're going to be so rich."

"Yeah," the man agreed and his feet shuffled as he moved from behind Iona to put his back to the station wall. "We're going to be rich. Cuff her and let's take her."

Rich? They had far too inflated of an idea of how much cash the St. Anne could muster and Iona worried that they'd be pissed when they found out how little cash they could get from holding her for-

Why was Sandra approaching Thomyris? Why was she going to cuff the young woman? The real money was with the Captain. Both of them had their attention on the young woman when the whooping alarm on the station bulkhead went off, indicating a serious fire.

Donovan might have had the edge in combat, but even he would have been surprised at how quickly Iona moved. Safety and response to alarms was far beyond thought with her, being deeply instinctual, and where other people would be startled and spend precious time turning towards the light and whooping noise, then even more time interpreting it, Iona just reacted.

Long, low g legs drew up like a frog and she kicked the underside of the table, flipping it up into the face of Sandra and the man even as her own chair went over backwards. Iona's head tucked hard into her chest so when she hit the ground she didn't hit her head.

Her shard pistol was already clear and started whining, sweeping from right to left over the top of the table. Where they hit the table they puffed into harmless dust, just like the ones that went over the top and hit the bulkhead. If they hit flesh or light clothing they'd punch on through and wreak razor-edged havok but were totally safe against anything else.

It was okay, Iona didn't want to kill anyone, just get out of the situation.

"Move!" she shouted at Thomyris and continued hosing her pistol back and forth as she kick-squirmed on her back, hoping Thomyris wouldn't step on her. All she needed to do was keep their heads down until the girl was clear and she herself could roll into the main room and they could escape.

Dust started to fill the back side of the alcove as shard after shard disintegrated, impacts sounding like hard fingernail taps on steel.

BennyQ · May 29, 2017

Thomyris “Riz” Heroux
Location: Kohlberg Station
Tagged: Iona Knutedottir

The meeting had proceeded like clockwork. Like well-oiled dancers in rhythmic routine, Iona and the merchant had bartered, arranged, and sealed a deal. She remained quiet, but observant during the exchange as terms were discussed and finalized. They had to fetch it from the merchant’s rented stores on the station and move it to their own ship. Thomyris was already calculating whether it was necessary to (unpopularly) summon the crew back for it or attempt to do so all by herself. It would be something nice to keep herself busy at least.

To Iona’s offer, she nodded. Yet when they were interrupted and broached by a stranger in regards to their latest deal, she was at once suspicious. But she knew better than to voice her complaints openly, especially if the Captain was speaking. She again remained quiet, watching Iona intently as she dealt with the newcomer. It did seem rather convenient. Mung, like the bean. Sandra Mung….See? I’m all about plants. The laughter was lost on Thomyris, tight-lipped, looking up at Iona to gauge her reaction. She found it a little too convenient now. Or I just met another nutcase. After all the shit I’ve seen on the St. Anne, should this really be surprising?

At the establishment, Thomyris merely requested whatever the Captain got for herself. She never had the luxury of choice when it came to drinks. Seated, she watched the Captain and the stranger again negotiate. Something about Sandra seemed…robotic? Monotone? Her voice sounded automatic and though she met Iona’s look about the strangeness, she didn’t quite grasp that something was amiss. Not until the first instance of profanity was used, causing Thomyris’ heart rate to spike too many beats a second, thumping like the bassline of one of Mateo’s songs. A soft gasp of surprise and shock left her little lips and she glanced once more to Iona, only to see a gun pressed to the back of her neck.

As if Thomyris might indeed be convinced to do something stupid. There were firearms involved. All she had was a stun baton. “Sitting still.” She repeated in affirmation, trying to keep her voice steady, eyes fluttering from Iona back to their new captors. She was too petrified to try anything. And this is probably why she usually takes Donovan on these meets… A sharp inhale was sucked through her nostrils as Thomyris found herself staring down the face of a gun. Icy fingers gripped her heart. For all the confidence and bustle she tried to portray, she too held a deep, innate fear of death. Life was hellish, true. But what else was there? Around her mug, which she still clutched, her hands began to tremble.

At first she thought this was some sort of simple space-lane banditry, a robbery, or some form of extortion. But when the woman, Sandra, came at her and her specifically, Thomyris realized at once what they were after. A fat sixty grand profit. She looked helplessly over to Iona, her lip quivering very slightly as her composure drained away under these blows. She was caught. And not only was she caught, but a friend and her employer was dragged into the mess. Thomyris was sure she’d be out of a job too now.

Everything went to hell after that. Thomyris didn’t know how it started but the first and last sight she saw was Iona whipping into action. She was no combat specialist, certainly. She could kill of course, when her prey wasn’t fighting back. But in a fight like this? She was no more than fodder and she knew it, throwing herself down into the vacant space left by the overturned table, crouching low and covering her head as if it might repel actual projectiles, her eyes wide and watching. She heard the aftermath of the guns blazing, each like a spike being driven into her chest, her heart leaping and jerking with each frightening discharge. When would it end? When something hot, searing, and deadly pierces through my body…

Something did pierce her though. Right in her ears. Iona’s voice, clear as sirens in that ruckus, broke right through to Thomyris, who whipped her head up and wasted a good few seconds gazing around in wonder and fear. She saw Iona on the ground and immediately began to worry. “C-Captain?” She at first stammered, thinking the woman was hurt, before common sense kicked in. Thomyris had never been cool under combat. She never had the chance to build up a coolness. But there was something cooler than she currently in her hands. Her drink. And a friend and protector under assault? She didn’t need the coolness. A burning desire in sharp contrast to it was swelling up in her.

She saw someone rise up to the side of the Captain. Thomyris did what she could. She flung her cup at the would-be assailant and splattered the spring water right in their eyes. Enough for a momentarily distraction to crouch down and grab the Captain around a shoulder, tugging her up. Shots fired all around, somewhat blind and wild, driven to caution from their prospective prey's defensive ferocity. Another kick, more fuel to the fire lit under her ass, and Thomyris finally moved, keeping her head down, eyes forward, darting from the table and towards the exit. She paused there, only momentarily, to make sure the Captain was with her as well. Thomyris wasn’t going to run without Iona, even if it cost her own life.

“Are you hurt? Did they get you? What should we do?” She asked urgently, eyes boring intently into the other woman for an answer, disliking any idleness and certainly not wishing to return to any state of helplessness. Her hands gripped at the Captain’s arm for a moment, before seizing it and beginning to tug the taller woman with sudden resolve. She had done this before. Escape. She only examined her datapad once, hand still shaky, determining the best route back to their hard suits and grav-sled. She didn’t say a word until they made it to the locker rooms. Thomyris wordlessly shut the door and bolted it locked, not caring if it was a public place that was supposed to be accessible to all. If they were still being pursued, at least knocking the door down would give them ample warning.

“What about the others?” She inquired, as she rushed to cover herself in her suit, fingers trembling with the straps in some place. Her heart was still thumping a mile a second, pounding in her chest and ears. A hard lump was in her throat. She almost died. The Captain almost died. And all because of her. They were after me, I think. I know they were. But I never met that woman before in my life. I should never have disembarked from the ship… she thought to herself, bringing her hands up to rub her face, before shooting to her feet. She slipped her helmet on and unless the Captain said so, Thomyris would mostly likely forgo the buddy check in favour of a timely escape. Who knew where the others would be? She left it to the Captain to notify the crew.

“T-The ship is s-stationary, right? So a straight shot back should suffice...” Thomyris stammered through the helmet comm as they returned to the grav-sled. She didn’t think she had the steadiness to launch them through another rumbling trek through space to their distant freighter. Still, once Iona gave the affirmation, if it was even true, Thomyris would launch them immediately off, racing back towards the freighter. And safety. She wondered if the others knew or were being targeted because of her.

The journey through space was hellish misery for Thomyris, though she surprised even herself in keeping a steady hand. Yet the silence of space made her inner emotions feel all the more keenly, her heart still throbbing in her ears. Yet the lasting effect of it did not extend as it had the first time, when she had fled.

She figured she would be in for it, the moment they were out of their hard suits. She hadn't told the full story to the Captain, nor mentioned that her debt was liable to be picked up by independent collectors and bounty hunters. Thomyris certainly did not think herself important or relevant enough to warrant such a concerted effort on her. But she was, to the wrong people. And it put the Captain and possibly the lives of her fellow crew members on the line. She owed them something, her life even. A part of her wanted to go back, to fetch them before they fell under some harm. But the call, and the means to do so, were with the Captain, whom Thomyris figured wasn't rating very high in her books no more.

AnnaBeth · Jun 2, 2017

Iona Knutesdottir
Kohlberg Station / The St. Anne
Evening Watch
Tagged: Thomyris, Donovyn, Dr. Khan, All

Ignoring Thomyris' questions, Iona saved her breath for the run. As soon as they were in the cover of a corner, Iona pushed her pistol around it back towards the room and held the trigger down until the last shard whined out. The empty magazine auto-ejected, a mere floppy plastic bag now that had once been rigid with the ultra-compressed shards. As Thomyris plotted their escape route, Iona put her spare magazine in and kept firing random bursts around the corner until the other woman sped off, her Captain in tow.

Sirens continued to whoop about the station and hatches were closing in preparation for the only certain way to stop a fire from burning through an entire station and killing everyone.

They were going to vent a portion of the station to space to snuff the flames out, and anyone who wasn't in a secure space or a suit. If it had been the St. Anne she would have linked in and determined where the problem was and if they were safe. Here, she could only hope they weren't in the affected area.

A few minutes later, almost back to where they'd stashed the suits, the alarm stopped and doors began to open again. They were safe, from the fire anyway. Despite their haste, and Thomyris' agitation, Iona wasted precious time checking the woman's work on her suit. Of her own she was certain, but Thomyris was agitated and scared - and with good reason it seemed - and Iona wanted to make sure they hadn't escaped just to let her die from a stupid mistake.

"I need a hard burn," she told Thomyris, finally speaking. Finger taps so rapid they seemed to blur threw a course from her 'pad into the gravsled's computer and it popped up as a bright arcing line connecting the station to the St. Anne. "Wait," she said and opened a line to the ship and a request for it to be repeated down through the St. Anne's powerful comms to her crew - wherever they might be.

"Immediate recall. Say again, immediate recall. Any way you can get back to us. If someone can't make it, mark their last known and move. Don't wait. Sauve qui peut," she ordered, meaning every man for himself. We will come back for you, I swear, she added to herself. Iona wanted to tell the crew but needed them to have the drive, the impetus of thinking they were all alone.

"Thomyris, the course is locked in. You can do this. I need a max-g burn. Don't worry, I've set up the flip move to activate automatically if you can't but I need you to try and stay conscious. Donovan's going to be calling and I won't be able to answer. You've got to relay the situation to him until I can come back."

"Burn it," she ordered and clenched her hands into fists, head back against the padding of the helmet in anticipation of the crushing gee that was about to -

Blackness.

Iona recovered briefly at the flip, the sudden absence of thrust all but ricocheting the blood back to her brain and she gasped at the pain of it. They were on course, the maneuver was good, and Thomy-

Blackness.

This time when the thrust cut out just as they came to a dead stop mere meters from the St. Anne's hull, Iona didn't come out of it and her face was visible inside the helmet, mouth open, blood pooled against the curve of the transparent face from burst blood vessels in her nose. She was breathing but her vitals were in distress. The grav sled hadn't pulled more than 4 gees but to Iona that was a much heavier load than it would be to a normal human.

Kosmik_Khaos · Jun 3, 2017

Donovan
Evening Watch
St. Anne
Tagged Sonakshi

Having stripped from his armored EVA suit Donovan sat at his desk in his spacers unitard scouring the hundreds of documents he had stolen. His wounds were no longer bleeding, but the blood was still soaked into his clothing and covering his body. "Heard." He replied to Sonakshi's summons to the clinic. Glancing at the pile of documents and the info on his computer screen he frowned at them. The clinic was part of a crime group called the Blue Mountain. One he wasn't personally familiar with, but would probably soon be. "Way to make big enemies jackass." He muttered to himself before leaving the room and going to the clinic.

"You have nothing to apologize about Doc. You tried to do things the legit way, when it didn't work you just followed me into the darker side of humanity. Shit hit the fan, I just hit harder is all. You didn't make me pull the trigger, that was all me. So no more blaming yourself, I won't hear it." In the clinic he stripped down and laid on the table an absolutely refused to accept any of the anesthetic as she removed the bullet and patched him up. "Thanks for the patch job Doc. I'm goin' to go clean myself up and get dressed again." He said dismissing himself. "Don't go to hard on that bottle." He advised as he left the clinic to walk back to his room stark naked and completely shameless to gather new clothes and take a shower.

Donovan
Evening Watch
St. Anne
Tagged: Iona, Thomyris, Sonakshi

Donovan was back in his room after his shower wearing only a pair of black pants that hung low on his hips and clung to his legs. The fabric a synthetic blend made for flexibility and durability. Taking a break from pouring over the documents he was busying himself cleaning his gun when Iona's voice rang out in his head. "Immediate recall. Say again, immediate recall. Any way you can get back to us. If someone can't make it, mark their last known and move. Don't wait. Sauve qui peut," Snapping to attention he dropped his weapon and took off out of his room at a near sprint. The half-gee of the corridor slowed him only for a second before he was kicking off the ground in long leaps and bounds. "Captain what is the situation?" He asked aloud the com implant picking up the words and sending them to Iona. "Captain, I repeat, what is the situation?" A moment of silence caused a sliver of fear to embed itself in him mind. "Iona answer me damn it!" He snapped when he didn't get an answer. Not wanting to panic the other crew members anymore than necessary he resisted a call across all channels asking for her status.

Going to the bay he looked out the viewing port and saw the gravsled coming to the St. Anne. Grabbing one of the spare suits he quickly suited up and sealed the bay opening it for them to get in. As it neared his glowing eyes could make out Thomyris' panicking face and behind her Iona's face mask covered in blood. Hooking an umbilical to his belt he launched himself out to met the two. As the gravsled came to a stop he reached them grabbing hold of it with one hand and pulling them in by the umbilical with the other. He didn't have time for Thomyris to pilot them inside.

Pulling them into the bay he closed the air lock and and waited as atmo was introduced. Removing his helmet and throwing it clear across the room he unlatched Iona from the sled and lifted her light body from it carrying her to the open floor. Laying the Captain on her back he removed her bloody helmet and his eyes fell to her face. She was breathing, he could hear it, but her heartbeat was erratic. "SONAKSHI GET YOUR ASS TO THE BAY NOW!" He barked over the com. Raising up he turned onto Thomyris his face a mask of deathly rage. "What happened girl?" He asked burning orange eyes glaring at her with an intensity that could have pierced the ships hull. His face promised unspeakable horrors to whoever hurt the captain. "Why are the two of you bruised and running so fast from Kohlberg that Iona nearly crushed herself alive pushing gee's that high?" His voice was a menacing growl. "SPEAK!" He roared when Thomyris didn't answer fast enough. "While Iona is out I am in charge, I don't have time for you to stand around stuttering and shaking like a spooked child."

megyn · Jun 3, 2017

Jin-Lai Park
Midwatch
Location: Boutique Ohh, La La
Tagged: Serena

Jin was enjoying having someone to shop with and buy something other than a ship's uniform. What good was having money without a few frilly things? Not to mention a few comfy things to longue about in. It was really the little luxuries that helped make shipboard life livable . She had also picked up some expensive chocolates as gifts for the crew. Everything went better with chocolate.

She felt silly. For months she had avoided going planet-side anywhere, as if somehow by doing something that everyone did she would fall into another disaster. 'News flash, life isn't a series of disasters, Jin, you can live a little.'

After she came out dressed in her original chef outfit, she went to pay for the blouses and unmentionables and nighties. She had intended on putting on her blouse but she had forgotten that she needed to check on a couple of food shipments first to make sure the food was real and not spoiled, it would be delivered to Annie's cargo hold. Since it seemed Mateo was nowhere to be seen at the bus stop, she invited Serena to join her if she liked. Then Jin set off see some good food.

Jin-Lai Park
Evening Watch
Location: Chinatown Market Square
Tagged: Serena ??

Jin Lai remembered the sights and sounds that were so familiar to her, the way her neighborhood had been as a schoolgirl. Ducks hanging in the windows along with strings of roast pork. Stalls with roasted vegetables and fishballs, tacos with kimchi, egg rolls, fried prawns. It was a pan asian experience and overwhelmed her senses.

There was much excitement as it appears that lamb was on special and they were expecting a bumper crop of fresh lamb meat within a few months, but she passed on it. She was checking crates, kohlrabi, fresh. carrots, fresh. very fresh fish, vacuum packed, already deboned and scaled. And lots of pork belly and ham, fresh, she would be making curing it on the ship to make bacon and ham, though the pork belly could also be cooked other ways , as could the pork shoulder. She knew how to get a good bargain especially in this neighborhood. She also made sure to pick up extra sugar and baking supplies, her goal was to make the St. Anne smell like cookies and pie , a lot.

She was pleased that this new distributor was giving the ship more than a fair deal, she was sure her family connections had something to do with it but she didnt want to know about it. They had been upset when she told them of the previous suppliers who had been cheating the St. Anne, she knew they would likely be visited soon.

Since she had so much stuff on her she asked if she could get a ride back to the St. Anne with the food. She had made a point initially for them to not bother rolling their lorry until she personally saw to the quality of the food, she was not about to be presented with another shipment of food already shipped and be told it was too late to send it back. She could be quite a bitch when she needed to be.

Jin-Lai Park
Evening Watch.
Location: Annie
Tagged: Serena ? Elaine?

Jin watched as they stowed the last of the foodstuff. It was amazing how far food storage had come , how refrigeration wasnt needed as much as it used to be with the creation of the retro-bacteria that fought off spoilage in food. Of course refrigeration and deep freeze was easy aboard the ship in space, it was harder to keep stuff warm in the cold of space.

She was just thinking about putting on a blouse and skirt and going into town to see if she could find someone to buy her a drink, when she got the recall message on her own comms. She immediately went to the console of the Annie. it was flashing red, she pushed one button and the captains voice was heard there the same as on her comms. The message was clear enough blaring over the speakers:

Iona Knutesdottir said:
"Immediate recall. Say again, immediate recall. Any way you can get back to us. If someone can't make it, mark their last known and move. Don't wait.

That made it official, they had been recalled. She wondered if Mateo would make it back in time. She waited a few minutes for anyone who showed up, and then went back over the procedures in her head. Now she was glad the Captain was such a stickler for drilling on ALL safety procedures ,including the automatic recall procedure. Jin was barely half way to her ship general pilot's license, and had no experience with piloting out of a heavy gravity well like a planet!

She put oon her helmet and strapped into the co-pilot chair and spoke out loud as she punched the buttons. She remembered that Elaine had done the preflight earlier. The engines had already warmed automatically upon receipt of the recall order. She was glad for that, that cut out some steps. so now the remaining ones.

Step 1 - the comms. Contact spaceport control to inform but not ask permission

"This is the Annie , we are declaring a general emergency and immediate departure for our ship, on orders of the ship's master Iona Knutesdottir"

Step 2 - docking alarms . Suddenly lights went on around the annie informing anyone around with a loud horn beeping that the ship would be launching in 30 seconds. At this time the hatches aboard the Annie including the main ramp all closed.

Step 3 - Docking clamps to neutral. She pushed the button and was glad to hear the whir and scrape and feel the familiar kerthunk of the clamps retracting.

Step 4 - Set throttles to Launch. She slid them through the gates marked Full, past it to the overdrive "launch" position. The ship began to rumble with power

Step 5- Push the glowing purple button marked RTB. Return to Base. It would automatically program the nav computer and take care of other tasks

Step 6 - Hit the big red button marked "Auto-Pilot"

Step 7 - Pray. Did this thing auto-dock she hoped?

She clung to her chair as the ship lifted from the ground and soon it was making its way out of the atmosphere to rendezvous with the St. Anne, and when it got close it matched course and speed making incremental changes and spinning into position to slowly slide into the bay.

Sigr · Jun 4, 2017

Doctor Sonakshi Khan
St. Anne
Midwatch
Tagged: Donovan.

Sonakshi's shoulders lowered a bit, relieved partly of the tension accumulated by Donovan's sin eating attitude. He seemed to be available, sometimes almost eager to burden himself up with not only his sins, but the ones of his crew mates, so knowing that she couldn't do much but nod. She looked over Donovan's naked body, not for the first time as she had treated him before, nor probably the last, as his line of work made him prone to injuries. Sonakshi was a complete professional, even if she had been hitting the bottle her mind normally stood clear and her hands always steady, but she couldn't help but treat herself to the sights.

Her focus changed once she started digging on him to fish out the bullet, a completely routine procedure that she could perform even when really drunk and blindfolded. The refusal to take painkillers would make most people twitchy and her work harder, but not Donovan. "If you tell me to not take blame, you could at least not be so eager to suffer yourself" was all she commented. Maybe there was something else she could do, something else she could say. Perhaps they could keep their talk later, when she wouldn't be the only one with a bottle around, but Donovan always seemed so busy...

Parading his naked ass, Donovan got out of the clinic soon enough, leaving Sonakshi there, lingering long after she finished cleaning the instruments and picking up things. "What the hell am I thinking about?" she chastised herself out loud, resting on a stretcher.

Doctor Sonakshi Khan
St. Anne
Evening Watch.
Tagged: Donovan, Iona, Thomyris.

Iona's voice for an immediate recall awoke Sonakshi, she had must fell asleep without meaning to, finding herself more tired than she expected. It was true that she had a habit of easily finding spots and moments to take small naps, as she didn't know when an emergency would need her and when her next sleep would be. Sonakshi jumped out the stretcher and flexed out a bit, groaning and wondering what the hell had gone wrong and if it was related to what Donovan and her had done. Getting ready to tend someone if there was such a need, Donovan's roar made her stomach turn around.

If he was like that... no, Iona was fine, she had to be. Grabbing her suitcase she packed a couple of extra things in there and bolted out to the bay. Her rotund figure was once more showing how fast could she be in case of need, the white coat flapping wildly on her back as she run as fast as she could manage. Sonakshi's heart skipped a beat seeing that it was in fact Iona the one on the ground, face bloodied while Donovan seemed about to tear Thomyris' head out with his bare hands.

Telling him to calm down wouldn't do much good and wasted time she may not had, not to mention that Donovan could be scary as hell, but would never hurt someone of the crew without a hell of a good reason to do so. Focusing her efforts on looking what happened to Iona, she soon saw that she was mostly fine but needed some treatment and she needed to get a look to be sure nothing else was going on. The doctor cleaned her face and made sure the respiratory tracts were open, pulling a small oxygen bottle out of the suitcase and fixing it to Iona's face with it's elastic bands. Opening her suit, she started her examination with both hands, expertly looking with touch and eyes if there was a risk to have an internal hemorrhage or broken bones. Finding none of that, it seemed a case of gravity shock, so the doctor moved Iona to a side and examined her back. The spine was fine, and her fingers and toes answered to the reflexes tests she was doing with a needle.

Seeing if she had a concussion would take a proper exam, but as she didn't find any noticeable injuries on the skull and the helmet should prevent the worst of a whiplash, the captain was safe, almost for sure. It was better if she was conscious though, as that way she could answer her and Donovan's questions. A straight adrenaline injection was out of the question, as the shock would be too much, so she produced a couple of adrenaline patches out of her pockets. The dosage was way lower and the absorption rate much slower, as they were something designed to stay awake and active during work, not something for medical usage themselves. Sticking them on Iona's neck, Sonakshi monitored her and waited to see if she responded well. She would have to nurse one hell of a headache almost for sure, but she should be fine.

BennyQ · Jun 4, 2017

Thomyris “Riz” Heroux
Location: Kohlberg Station -> St. Anne
Tagged: Iona Knutedottir, Donovan, Sonakshi Khan

“W-What?” Thomyris snapped, suddenly confused by the Captain’s order. Try and stay conscious… That didn’t sound right. At first she hesitated but when the order was barked once more…she burned it. Hard. The sudden rush struck her like a hard slap to the face, shaking her entire body so painfully she could see dizzy spots in her vision, before blackness began to creep in around the edges. She was pressing so hard against her suit that she thought she would be torn right out of it.

Breathe. Just breathe. She told herself repeatedly, huffing and causing her visor to fog. She did not blink or close her eyes, knowing that would only make passing out easier. The Captain’s counting on me. Breathe. Stay awake. She had no clue how Iona might be doing, the force of the burn preventing her from speaking or even looking over her shoulder. She didn’t think the woman would fall unconscious though. Why tell her and not follow it herself? It seemed utterly infeasible to do so and leave Thomyris alone, on her second cruise through space at the helm of a craft. Surely she was watching and paying attention. She hoped.

When Donovan appeared on the hull of the St. Anne, relief flooded her body for a second, recovering from the dizziness and weakness that flooded her after the hard blast through space. So not everyone was attacked. But what about the others still planet-side? All because of me. She didn’t realize her worry and anxiety were wrought on her face as visible as words on a page. Thomyris tried to help Donovan reel them in, but her limbs seemed as if they were stuck in water, moving slow and laboriously on even simple actions and gestures. There was still spots in her vision, which sometimes increased as she blinked. God, what a day…

It only got worse when they got inside, realizing Iona was finally unconscious in the air lock. “Captain?” She asked when Iona didn’t seem to unlatch herself at first from the sled, requiring Donovan to do it. “W-What happened?” She asked foolishly at first, as Iona was laid down. But that was all she managed to say before Donovan leaped at her, after roaring an order for the doctor to come. She shared Donovan’s concern, but didn’t realize she was at fault. She gasped and could barely speak when Donovan seized her, still in her hard suit, shaking her intensely, almost as bad as the ride back. The spots grew worse. A lump was forming in her throat, threatening a very negative reaction if the orange eyed man didn’t stop. She was terrified, knowing how dangerous he was and could be. And now it was all directed at her!

“Stop…s-stop s-shake…shaking m-me!” She stammered at first, grabbing at Donovan’s wrist, though her delicate hands were no match for his brute strength. It wasn’t my fault! she wanted to scream back. But she knew it was. They were after her. It had been obvious. And though Iona may have been willing to defend Thomyris, clearly that wasn’t a sentiment shared by the others, especially when it put the same selfless captain in danger and harm’s way. “We were attacked! Ambushed. They had guns on us. She…” Thomyris gulped, looking down at Iona. “She ordered me to push it that hard. I didn’t know…” she whined, her voice dropping to a whisper. Tears pricked her eyes but she willed them down. And when Doctor Khan arrived, she looked to the other woman imploringly. Surely someone sane, rational, and intelligent would understand. Donovan was ready to split her in two seemingly.

Surprisingly, being on the verge of tears seemed to instill Thomyris with renewed fury. Iona had put everything on the line for her. And this was how Thomyris repaid her? With uncharacteristic violence, she tried to outright wrench herself from Donovan’s grip. “So let go of me! I’m not the enemy here.” She hissed, glaring back at him now. She knew Donovan could easily overpower her though. “Is she alright Doctor?” She then asked Sonakshi. “It was just…just a hard ride back. She must have known if she ordered me. If she’s hurt badly…or needs a transplant…I’ll volunteer for it. It’s the least I can do anyways.” She explained, before turning her gaze back to Donovan. “If you don’t believe me still then check the audio logs on her transmitter! I didn’t do this to her!” She stated more firmly. “We should be focused on retrieving the other crew first. So let fucking go of me!”

megyn · Jun 5, 2017

Jin-Lai Park
Evening Watch.
Location: Annie , on approach to St. Anne.
Tagged: Serena ? Elaine? Anyone? Beuller?

Jin used the other screen to flip through the programming of the Annie. She was sure this thing could be made more user friendly and use more voice prompts. She wasnt about to reprogram it while it was flying her back, but she was confident. Coding was something that kids in her neighborhood learned at a young age. It was almost a foregone conclusion that she would be a master coder for a career, that is, if she chose not to go into the family business. But that was why she had chosen cooking. To assert her own identity and to use her creativity.

As she got closer, Jin was a little nervous, it was so quiet at the controls of the Annie, until suddenly it wasn't. Lots of little dings an buzzes and lights blinking. Proximity alert. Orbital convergence alert. And a prompt flashing on the screen, with the slightly confusing message "RTB Course Terminus. Engage Auto-dock ? y/n"

Jin kept hitting Y and nothing happened until she remembered that she had slaved the keyboard to the other screen. She smirked. Master coder, huh? She hit yes and then hailed the St. Annne.

"St. Anne, this is the Annie on final approach, we are In the groove and I am reading Landing Deck as Deck Clear. Say again I read Deck clear and we have begun final approach and we are in the groove. We are RTB in response to Emergency Recall Order."

She tried to sound professional but she was feeling very alone. In her mind echoed something she had learned as a young child watching horror holovids - Never split up the group. Never split up the group.

The Annie matched the rotation and yaw of the St. Anne and everything aligned, maneuvering thrusters were on automatic but Jin decided to cut back the throttles just another notch to see if she could come in for a softer landing.

Once she got off the shuttle, she went to the Loadmaster 8000C robot system and set it to unload and stow the foodstuffs, using the free moving robotic arms along with the overhead pully system. Everything was coded properly so there was no special handling required. She stowed her stuff in a locker and went looking for where the crew was. She kept her newly acquired vibra-dagger and stunner with her just in case. Never split up the group, indeed.

Kosmik_Khaos · Jun 5, 2017

Donovan
St. Anne
Evening Watch.
Tagged: Iona, Thomyris, Sonakshi, Jin-lai, anyone else aboard the Annie

Donovan stared hard into Thomyris's eyes the burning glow slowly seeping out. He didn't let go of her but he did stop shaking her. Taking in a deep breath he closed his eyes and let it out slowly. Opening his eyes again they were back to the burnt orange they normally where. He understood that she was following Iona's orders to push the sled to escape. Letting go of her shoulders her cupped her face in his strong hands, partly to comfort her, partly to rest a finger on either side of her neck to check her pulse. Tilting her head up he looked her straight in the eyes, he could see that some of the blood vessels had popped with the force and she would have bloodshot eyes for a day or so but nothing to bad. "I am not blaming you Ris. I am worried about you both. Iona grew up in near zero gravity her entire life. Her body doesn't take heavy gees like that to well." His voice was still gruff and held his normal gravelly rasp but the tone was softer, full of concern. "Tell me, who attacked you two, why did they attack you two? I need to know so I can help protect you all."

Letting go of Thomyris's face he brushed her hair aside to examine the brush on her forehead. "Sonakshi, give Ris a looking over too. Iona is probably suffering from G-LOC and should be alright. I've seen it happen before with her. If there is no signs of injury we can only wait for her to wake to test for a concussion. Ris has a nasty bruise on her head, and her pulse is way high." Stepping away from the girl he turned to look at his captain on the floor breathing steadily. "When you calm down, I want a full debriefing Ris, as I said, until Iona wakes, I am the commanding officer on board and I need to know what other shit we have gotten ourselves into." He turned and gave her a mischievous grin. "You are not the only two that stirred up some trouble on the station.

"St. Anne, this is the Annie on final approach, we are In the groove and I am reading Landing Deck as Deck Clear. Say again I read Deck clear and we have begun final approach and we are in the groove. We are RTB in response to Emergency Recall Order." Jin-Lai's voice sounded in Donovan's head causing him to stiffen and snap his head to the side. "Annie this is the St. Anne, Landing deck is clear and you have permission to land. Repeat, landing deck is clean and you have permission to land." Turning back to the three women in the bay he gave them all a looking over. "Jin-Lai is back with the Annie. Ris, help Sonakshi get Iona to the med-bay." His voice was clipped and the tone strong, almost daring them to question his orders.

With a though he opened his comm to Jin-Lai. "Jin-Lai, This is First Mate Donovan, acting HMFIC (head motherfucker in charge). I am with Dr. Sonakshi, Thomyris, and an unconscious Iona, we are in the loading bay, report to me immediately." He paused for a moment calming the swelling anger in his core. "How many souls did you have aboard the Annie?" He inquired hoping she was able to bring the rest of the crew home safely with her, but doubting it. Serena would have been the one hailing the St. Anne if she was aboard seeing as she was the one that usually piloted the small craft. Whipping his body around he slammed his fist into one of the heavy metal containers with such a force that it slid and inch with the impact and left the faintest of dents. "Damn it." He growled to himself under his breath. This was becoming a fucked up cycle.

AnnaBeth · Jun 6, 2017

Iona Knutesdottir
The St. Anne
Evening Watch
Tagged: Dr. Khan

Regaining consciousness after the hard burn was less like waking up and more like fighting her way out of a drugged up nightmare. Several times she moved towards consciousness, spurred on by the slow leak of adrenaline from the patches the Doctor had put on her, but the beating her body took screamed in defiance and she kept sinking back beneath the grey blanket of sleep. Finally enough of the drug got into her system to defeat the pull of pain and Iona groaned and forced her eyes open.

A steady throb, a hard one, pulsed against the back of her head as one mother of a headache curled around the base of her brain and squeezed. Without looking Iona reached down and for the second time today pulled out a strip of bubble derms, oval shaped orange lozenges lined up neatly in a row like soldiers ready to do battle. She was about to peel one off one-handed when they were tugged from her fingers.

"Hey," she protested then groaned at the pain in the back of her skull. "I need those," Iona said and pushed herself up onto her elbows. Quarter-g, she decided, grateful that someone had dialed down the grav plates in the-

Clinic. She was in the small excuse for a clinic aboard the St. Anne. Forgetting the pain for the moment, or that she saw the gruff but oh so very valuable Dr. Khan with the strip of analgesics in her hand that she'd taken from the Captain, Iona sat all of the way up and almost lazily let her legs drift over the side of the bed and rest on the floor. Lazy because moving too fast in low-grav just made you drift and bounce and look ridiculous. Nausea swam in her stomach and she swallowed it back, knowing it was from the hard burn she'd suffered through and unaware it was an additional side effect of the patches the doctor had slapped on her.

She was back aboard the St. Anne, safe as she could be with her ship - her world - wrapped around her again and in control again.

"Water," she asked, commanded, and took the bulb of it from the Doctor and squeezed, holding a mouthful for a long moment before swallowing. The side of her face felt stiff, sticky too, and she brushed a hand across it and saw dried blood flake off. Her nose felt full, Iona realized, and when she blew it into a tissue clots and streaks on it told her she'd had one epic noseblood.

"I need," she said slowly, turning her face to look into Sonakshi's rounder one that was set with professional gruffness for her patient pushing instead of being poked at, "something for this headache, and I hurt all over, and I kind of want to throw up on you right now." Iona shut her eyes and rubbed at the back of her neck, wishing it was being done by someone with strong, thick fingers instead.

"And can you give me a sitrep, please?" she asked. "I assume since we're not thrusting that we're still in orbit?"

Who was keeping the crew together while she laid about in the clinic who knows how long? Was everyone okay? Iona desperately wanted to get out of the clinic, to get to the bridge and bring her crew around her and see each and every face, but she knew she wasn't ready for it. Better to be late than weak, better to take time to clean up and look in charge than a bloody mess.

Oh Christo, Donovan must be having kittens. The thought made a new wave of pain throb and she felt the need to throw up rise almost to the top of her throat.

Sigr · Jun 6, 2017

Doctor Sonakshi Khan
St. Anne.
Evening Watch.
Tagged: Donovan, Iona, Thomyris.

"Her pulse will be fine as soon as you stop looking at her like you were about to tear her head off" Sonakshi stated monotone still looking at Iona. "Sir" she added looking at Thomyris and Donovan, the pause deliberate as she wasn't a fan of getting bossed around when it came to medical issues. "Yes, help me taking Iona to the clinic so I can take a good look at you, but you seem fine to me" she added, leaving Donovan to deal with the Annie and the situation in general. The sooner Iona awoke the better, not because Donovan wasn't capable, that was for sure, but because it would lift a weight from the loyal first mate's shoulders.

Doctor Sonakshi Khan
Clinic.
Evening Watch.
Tagged: Iona, Thomyris.

"Look to the left. Good. To the right. Perfect" Sonakshi instructed while pointing a small flashlight to Thomyris' eyes. "You look fine to me, but take a moment to relax" she said, while Iona was still unconscious on a bed. "If you need something for the stress there are the green ones on the third drawer there, I won't look if you take one" the doctor showed her understanding, and in other circumstances she would even smile. Briefly. But not with the captain unconscious next to them. "Just be honest with Donovan, I'm sure that you didn't do anything that warrants his ire. Now go or he will end up really angry" she shooed Thomyris away, wanting to focus on the captain.

Doctor Sonakshi Khan
Clinic.
Evening Watch.
Tagged: Iona.

"Slow" Sonakshi growled at the awaking Iona. "You have already been moving faster than you can afford for the day" added, one of the few moments when she allowed herself to chastise a superior, as that small place were her domains. She didn't push much further though, knowing that Iona would be equal parts confused and angry, wanting to sort out what the hell had been going on. "Don't hold it inside for me, but do it here so I don't have to change my clothes" she said, putting a metal basin on Iona's lap, helping her throw up if she needed to.

"I have been with you here since you almost crashed on us, so I know shit about what's going on, but yeah we are not moving as I reckon we are missing crew mates" Sonakshi said with as much tact as she was able to muster, knowing that the news wouldn't please Iona. Sonakshi took a wet cloth, washing Iona's face of the traces of her ordeal. "If you are done emptying your stomach take these" she offered a couple of pills for the aches that were tormenting her head and body. "I've dosed you a small amount of adrenaline to bring you back, but there is still room for a bit more if you feel tired and need to be active" explained, patting one of her multiple pockets. "It will be one hell of a crash once the day is over, so be ready to sleep for more than a dozen hours and wake up with the worse of hangovers though" she said, knowing firsthand what such abuse could do to your system.

megyn · Jun 6, 2017

Jin-Lai Park
Evening Watch.
Location: St. Anne > Loading Bay
Tagged: Donovan, Occupants of Loading Bay

Jin was glad to hear from anyone, although she was somewhat intimidated by the first mate. Still, she had dealt with people who had been altered even more radically than him, there was a subculture in Asian neighborhoods where young punks altered themselves akin to how the Tuner culture used to alter their cars . 'Pimp them up with bling' as they used to say in the old days.

She was very nervous to report on how she was the only one still in commission "Mateo ghosted , he didnt rendezvous with Serena at the bus to the beach. I had this feeling we were being watched but I thought i was being paranoid"

~~"I am not sure what happened to Serena or Elaine.~~ " "Serena was going to go after Mateo I guess" She felt even more guilty now "I was busy getting our food situation sorted out. If we need to find someone down here , i have... certain connections. " Her voice trailed off. "I really am not sure what the deal with Elaine is"

After landing and having spent a couple of moments to set the foodstores to be stowed, she made her way to the loading dock directly, still with the vibra-blade on her belt. She still hadnt heard what had happened that had caused the recall order to begin with. She double-timed it , using the low grav to her advantage especially when it came to avoiding the knee knockers between sections. She still managed to bump her shin in one spot, and then her head when she came around a corner too fast.

She wasn't breathless but still looked as if she had hurried to report to the Loading Bay, and she smoothed her hair "Chief Cook Jin-Lai Park, reporting as ordered, Sir" She knew they werent huge on ceremony on the St. Anne but she was scared about whatever was going on and wanted to show she was taking it seriously. She stood at parade rest position, of course she like many had served in a basic military training as part of college requirements and those habits were what she was clinging to now. She just wished she had actually paid more attention. "May i ask about the emergency recall?" She blushed, feeling lost and frightened and guilty, wondering where the Captain was.

BennyQ · Jun 6, 2017

Thomyris “Riz” Heroux
Location: St. Anne
Tagged: Donovan, Sonakshi Khan, Jin-Lai

Not blaming her? That’s what it sure felt like, being shaken down like a common criminal. Someone in Donovan seemed to calm down and his hands felt warm against her cheeks when he cupped it. Her pulse was still blaring far above normal levels, not helped at all by Donovan’s accusations. Still, it felt good to be held, if even for a moment and her own hand followed after Donovan’s as it brushed some hair back, running over her face and rubbing her eyes, which incidentally made them even more blood shot. She still felt dizzy and though she wanted to tell Donovan everything at that moment, she figured it was best too to wait until she calmed down. “Yes sir. A full debriefing.” She repeated, acknowledging the order. Donovan got a call then from the Annie, which caused Thomyris to sigh in relief. At least not everyone was caught.

She followed Doctor Khan in helping remove Iona’s tall body over to the med-bay. “I’m just shaken up. She got the worst of it.” She explained, before allowing the doctor to examine her medically, obeying her commands wordlessly, her eyes moving to the left, then to the right, revealing the irritated veins at the corners and sides. To the offer of stress meds, she refused with a shake of her head and pursued lips. She didn’t trust that stuff. She had seen too many get hooked on it as a crutch too. “Thank you doctor.” She said, giving Sonakshi’s arm a brief squeeze as she moved to leave, a little limply but determined. “And my offer still stands, if the Captain…needs anything. It’s the least I can do for her. See you soon.” She beckoned and went off to return to the bay.

No, she wasn’t calmed down but neither was she willing to wait for her body and mind to recuperate. Lives were at risk because of her, of her debt and crimes. She had to face up to it soon and it was better to endure Donovan’s prospective wrath now rather than later. She returned to only find Donovan and Jin-Lai in the Loading Bay, the other crewmembers strangely absent. Her heart began to pound intensely within her chest again, fearing the worst for them. And all because of me.

She joined Donovan and Jin-Lai, nodding to their cook in greeting and hearing her question. She let Donovan explain at first, waiting for an opening to give an explanation of what happened. She was still terrified of the blue skinned, orange eyed man, not easy to forget how he had put his hands and nearly split her in two from the violent shaking. Yet for the Captain’s sake, given what happened to her and possibly others, she found the bravery to look the First Mate in the eye.

“After we closed up the deal for our next consignment, a shipment of potash, we were approached by a woman who called herself Sandra Mung. It was clearly a fake name but she seemed to know what we were about and made us an offer that seemed profitable. The Captain was intrigued but it was an ambush. Once Sandra or whoever she was got us seated, another companion of hers arrived and stuck a gun to us. They said they were going to be rich once they took us in. I think…” For a second, Thomyris trailed off in her debriefing, recalling how they had tried to take her rather than the Captain. “They were after me. I…I owe a debt, of which can be collected by others. I’m sorry. I never told anyone about it. I put the Captain’s life, and all of yours, needlessly in danger.”

“And,” she said, her tone going firm again, for while Thomyris might disregard her own life, she still felt a passionate desire to protect her fellow crew, “I think there are more of them. And I think they know a lot about us and our business too. They approached us speaking of potassium scavengers, to supplement our cargo of potash. The chance meeting seems almost too convenient for my tastes. It was an ambush, planned in advance.” She wasn’t asked for an analysis, but she gave one anyways, now watching Donovan to see what his reaction would be to her debriefing and confession.

nothingbutspacejunk · Jun 6, 2017

Mateo Reyes
Location: ???
Time: Evening Watch
Tagged: N/A

CRACK
CRACK

"Jesus Pagan, stop. I don't think they've even got the ransom video yet." the female officer said, glancing Mateo over. "You might kill him and we'd never get the money." The cyborg was thoroughly beaten and worked over by this point. Numerous cuts and bruises had begun to swell on his head and chest. Mateo even had trouble breathing, potentially a broken rib or something of the sort. "Speaking of which, is there any response from that ship yet?" she asked towards the officer sitting down.

"Nope. It's like people never check their damn messages anymore, it's been hours. Maybe they ignored you Tin Man. Decided you weren't worth the hand over. I don't necessarily think that your robotics are obsolete yet, but maybe this debtor does more than you around the ship." Marlowe laughed and sank back down into his chair, vacantly browsing the local internet until the message was received. I can't wait for somebody to kill him. I might do it specifically. Either him or Punchy over here, I can't decide. Things to consider. Mateo thought, using his one working eye to scan the room.

Based on what the officers had said about their location, Mateo came to the conclusion that he was brought off world somewhere. He couldn't really tell if he was on a ship or a station, but he definitely wasn't on the planet anymore. He had hoped that they wouldn't even bother with the message and just leave, these low level rent a cops weren't really worth the rest of the crew's attention, yet his stomach churned at the thought of being sent to some back alley chop shop for his parts.

At first Mateo thought he was in trouble, thinking that the officers were actually undercover from a crime family. They turned out to be some opportunistic thugs who never learned how to torture properly, mostly just beating on him without a clear goal. In fact Mateo had actually gotten information from them, they worked for the Blue Mountain Group, other bounty hunters and triggermen were also looking for Thomyris, and that it was Pagan's birthday next week.

"Alright," Pagan said cracking his knuckles again, "What do you know about Thomyris habits, connections, yadda yadda." He stood over Mateo menacingly, with a look in his eye like a wild dingo ready to tear apart a rat. "Alright, alright, I'll confess. We've been seeing each other recently, fucking like wild animals long into the night. I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone, but you've beat it out of me." Mateo said with mock resignation. The officer shot him a confused glance. "You're talking about the debtor?" Pagan asked.

"Oh Thomyris? Sorry I thought we were talking about your mother." Mateo beamed at him.

CRACK

Mateo felt his body weight slam backwards into the chair as the officer struck him, giggling like mad after a yelp of pain. He had bit into his lip with the last punch and some blood was beginning to slide down his chin. Mateo stifled his laughter into a small chuckle and spoke out to the officer. "Sorry, I'll come clean, I actually fucked your sister."

CRACK

Once again his head flew back with the punch and Mateo felt really light headed. He probably had a concussion by now or something similar. The Doctor is probably going to be mad at me tomorrow. If I make it until then. It took a minute for his vision to catch up to where his mind was at. The cybernetic eyes playing everything, every refraction of light was visible to him, but his thoughts taking a second to fully catch up. "No... no that did it, I will be honest. It was your mother and your sister. Y'know on the street they call that the chicken and the egg? No shit man." Mateo smiled, or tried to it was hard to tell at this point if his face was capable of smiling. Pagan looked at him with a blank stare of bewilderment for a moment.

CRACK
CRACK
CRACK

Mateo didn't even snap his head back up after that one, staring at a spot on the ground his face rested on. Those last punches actually knocked him and the chair sideways. Mateo was gazing out of his solitary working eye around the room, trapped in his own body with his cold limbs lying useless at his side. After a few seconds he let out a groan of pain and heard a few footsteps walking away. "Screw it, Marlowe you try getting information out of him now." Pagan said with disgust.

"Getting information out of me? Please, you basically told me your boss, the number of your forces, and your whole plan to trade me off while beating the shit out of me. What's this shit lord going to do to torture me, hook up a car battery to my nipples and read me everyone's bank account login?" Mateo said, his face against the floor. Pagan sauntered back over and kicked him sharply in the ribs a couple of times, if a rib wasn't broken before, then some definitely were now. "Pagan stop. Go to the bridge and calm down a little." Marlowe said standing between him and Mateo. With a huff the officer left the mirrored room and Marlowe stood the chair with Mateo back up.

So I am on a ship. Probably heading near the St. Anne or towards the station. I hope Donovan's onboard so I can go home quickly tonight. The cyborg took a look in the one way mirror. He didn't look quite so pretty anymore. He would definitely need stitches and a few dozen painkillers to feel okay after this. Mateo noticed that they took care not to touch his cybernetics at all, keeping him pristine for a chop shop should this deal not fall through.

Thankfully the two remaining officers didn't seem to have a stomach for excessive violence, neither trying to start up the beatings again.

Carlyssir · Jun 8, 2017

Elaine Reid
St. Anne Loading Bay
Evening Watch
Tagged: Donovan, Jin-Lai, Occupants of Loading Bay

Iona Knutesdottir said:
"Immediate recall. Say again, immediate recall. Any way you can get back to us. If someone can't make it, mark their last known and move. Don't wait.

The comms crackled in Elaine's ear as she clambered around in the Annie's underbelly engineering compartment. Something had felt off during reentry - the control yoke was tugging to the left which could indicate a growing problem or just some erroneous sensor ping somewhere down the chain. The second wouldn't affect her flying too much as the yoke hadn't locked up or anything similar, but if it were a sign of a budding problem as she suspected she wanted to isolate it before they left lest she face a tongue lashing from the Captain upon her return. She keyed her own comms to respond with a negative, but something in the compartment was apparently interfering with her earbud judging by the screaming static that greeted her tap.

She sighed and shut it down as she dug back into the engineering panel she was examining. Then an a red strobe bulb began to flash in the compartment. Takeoff procedures? But the others would have waited to gather at the Annie and would have commed to confirm her location before launch surely. Right?

As she questioned the launch mentally she heard the hydraulic hiss of the security seals on the compartment engage behind her. Then the cursing, and more than a little bit of angry banging on the bulkhead as the autopilot engaged. Whoever had started the sequence was going to get a chewing out later for certain. The damn autopilot reverted a dozen or so ergonomic settings she'd changed for her own comfort to their defaults. It was the equivalent of getting into someone else's car and changing the seat and driver's wheel settings and leaving them like that rather than at least trying to set them back.

At least she didn't rattle too much in the engineering compartment as they exited the atmosphere. Damn thing was so cramped that her hardsuit absorbed most of the impacts. Until her helmet clanged loudly off the outer bulkhead at least. She groaned and cradled her head after that particular impact. She was going to have a headache after that one. She redoubled her dedication to deliver a thorough tongue lashing to whoever began the recall.

Finally the shuddering came to a halt and after a short delay she felt the rumble as landing struts extended, then one final jolt as the shuttle settled to the deck of the docking bay of the St. Anne. Elaine wasted no time in disengaging the hatch lock on the engineering panel, making sure the seals were no longer mag-locking the panel down. Then she violently kicked it open to slam to the deck with a resounding clang. She rolled out of the compartment, then continued her roll from beneath the shuttle.

She hopped to her feet once clear of the overhanging metal, then angrily demanded, "We got an emergency recall, but I wanna know who the FUCK got us in the air without checking to see who may or may not have been performing maintenance before that? I might well have been in an unsealed compartment! Basic preflight people, fuck!" With that she spun to face the 'HMFIC' and rested a hand on the handle of her revolver, "What's with the recall Donovan?"

After a Thomyris' statement Elaine arched a brow then said in a deadpan tone, "So...you've got a bounty. Not sure why that warrants an emergency recall. Coulda just called and said, 'hey we need to jet' rather than getting everyone's panties in a wad. Say, where's the captain anyway?"

megyn · Jun 8, 2017

Jin-Lai Park
Evening Watch.
Location: St. Anne > Loading Bay
Tagged: Donovan, Elaine, Thomryis

Jin Lai had a good mental sense of where everyone on the ship was. The captain and the doc were in sick bay. Donovan was here in front of her along with Thomryis. No one else was on board. So she nearly jumped when Elaine entered the bay, her eyes wide and jaw dropped, her face flushed through several shades of red. How had .. where had. She listened guiltily and then raised her hand.

"I.. i am so so sorry. I... I didn't think about that part of the preflight check because the engines were already warming up because of the Emergency Recall protocol. " Jin felt about 3 inches tall now "I'm so sorry, I was sort of freaking out , I mean with Mateo disappearing and then Serena and then I came back and you weren't there and we got the emergency recall. I thought maybe someone was after the crew, I had felt like someone was watching us earlier. "

She trembled and bit her lip and tried to keep it together. She had learned a lot in her short time as a spacer but she was not seasoned like the rest of these people. Maybe she didn't belong here. "I fucked up. If I could make it up to you I would, I won't forget that i owe you " Jin Lai tried not to look inconsolable without narrowing her eyes and getting defensive because she didn't want to start a fight. "Please forgive me, it was my first time on a shuttle alone and I was sort of freaking out thinking people were grabbing the crew. I swear I had no idea you were there i figured you had left hours ago. " She paused looking mostlly at Donovan "Have we heard anything about Mateo , serena? Any messages come into the ships comm while we were out?"

AnnaBeth · Jun 9, 2017

[Events take place after shuttle rendezvous and scene in shuttle bay, feel free to make time move back and forth in a scene at your preference]

Iona Knutesdottir
The St. Anne / Sick Bay
Evening Watch
Tagged: Dr. Khan

She would never admit it, certainly would come unglued if anyone else said it, but there were many times when Sonakshi took over from Dr. Khan, even though they were the same woman. Dr. Khan was gruff and handed Iona an emesis try with the protest that she didn't want to have to clean up Iona's vomit. Sonakshi helped keep her hair, mussed and undone from when they'd taken off her Snoopy hat to check for additional injuries, out of her face and out of the tray and then gently, very gently, used a hot wet cloth to wash Iona's face afterwards, removing the worst of the mess and taking the tray away without comment. Dr. Khan might rub some people the wrong way, and she could be clinically terrifying at times recounting her unorthodox ways of treating combat injuries, but at heart she was full of compassion and sometimes let it out instead of keeping it behind her prickly walls that Iona knew had been constructed for good reasons.

Here, alone, the Captain felt like she could acknowledge the softer side of Sonakshi without pushing Dr. Khan into an affronted, foul tempered anger. Just as Sonakshi finished washing up Iona's face, Iona's slender, long fingers closed around the other woman's wrist and held it. Sliding the washcloth free with her other hand, Iona held it and then slowly slid her fingers down the Doctor's wrist, fingertips spidering across the pulse point, before twining them through the stubbier fingers that belonged to the Doctor.

"Thank you," she said not softly but with firm, personal rather than professional sincerity. Her fingers squeezed against Sonakshi's, then she let go and, still holding the cloth and dabbing at her face where there was perceived stickiness, left the sick bay and headed to her personal quarters.

Iona Knutesdottir
The St. Anne / Captain's Stateroom
Evening Watch
Tagged: Closed

After watching the video attached to the message sent to the St. Anne's Master's address, Iona threw up again, only this time into a bag designed to handle the issue in zero-g. Just as Donovan kept his quarters cranked up to make him feel comfortable, Iona usually kept hers in zero-g by preference. The bag went into the disposal and she went into her shower, electing for the sonic option so as not to have to deal with the issue of zero-g and water's incredible surface tension and cohesion. Powerful, almost audible at the very high edge of hearing sound waves scoured grime, remnants of dried blood and being sick, and other things from her skin and a swirling air vortex sucked it all away, leaving Iona dry and clean. She still hurt, a lot, but that could be dealt with. After putting on a clean ship suit and replacing the magazine in her shard pistol with a fresh one and also topping up the empty pouch of the spare, Iona added one final item from the lock box in her room and left. She still hadn't talked to anyone other than the Doctor since being brought on board and no one else had seen the video.

Iona Knutesdottir
The St. Anne / Bridge
Evening Watch
Tagged: ALL

"My ship," she said as she entered the Bridge, though no one was keeping a watch as she'd put the St. Anne into autonomous mode when they all left. Iona dogged the hatch behind her, ensuring no one else could enter until she let them or they had her override code. Only one other person did and she trusted them not to use it. It took her a quarter cycle to queue the vid into the main screen, set up the camera to record, and to finalize her plan of action.

There wasn't another choice she could see. Her hand was forced, the cards dealt, the die cast.

Dialing up the volume level, Iona keyed the shipwide comms, both audible and electronically broadcast to in or near the ship receivers. "All hands secure your detail and report to the bridge immediately."

Opening the hatch, Iona took up a position facing away from it. Unusually for her the crew would notice that the gravity was at standard g when they entered and that Iona didn't acknowledge anyone, standing with her feet slightly apart and her hands palm down against her hips, leaving her elbows bent out from her body.

Once the entire crew that she knew to be aboard was assembled, Iona reached out to the console in front of her, still without turning around. The hatch sighed shut and locking bolts snicked into place.

Another button press and the screen came alive in front of the crew, Iona's body silhouetted off to the side of it, and the ransom demand played out in larger than life rendition. Mateo had been worked over in it, though unknown to them not as heavily as he had been later, and it was a brutal beating. Their demands came though as loud and as clear as the thumps of fists on Mateo's skin.

"...-iver the debtor to us by the end of standard evening watch or we'll organ harvest him a piece at a time," the hum of a vibroblade held near Mateo's belly gave an unpleasant buzz to the vid, "scrap his cybernetics and deliver the rest to you as just so much useless protein." A final, very hard blow to Mateo and the vid cut off.

Turning to face her crew, Iona's eyes found those of Thomyris.

There was no pity, no regret, no emotion at all other than a calm faced demeanor that Iona wore by habit when conning the St. Anne through difficult space.

From her thigh pocket she took out a pair of cuffs, standard issue high-security peace officer ones, and tossed them underhanded to Donovan.

"Secure the debtor Thomyris Heroux," she ordered, no pity or regret in her voice. "We're making the exchange."

Sigr · Jun 9, 2017

Doctor Sonakshi Khan
The St. Anne / Bridge
Evening Watch
Tagged: ALL

Sonakshi's head still had a low buzz echoing around, as she had taken a couple of swigs more from the bottle after tending to her captain. Her hand still remembered Iona's touch, and her mind was still wondering what was that. Part of her knew that Iona had to be disoriented, that she probably felt odd if she had noticed Sonakshi's pulse racing, those thin pale fingers dancing over her cinnamon skin. Another part of her fantasized, thinking that she had caught the captain in a singularly vulnerable moment, Sonakshi herself being a bit tender after what happened, and that Iona had shown her real affection.

Vodka had drowned those questions, and now she was ready with her suitcase packed on the bridge. Sonakshi figured that it was related with whatever had made her and Thomyris flee the station in such a hurry, something that would of course require an answer of some sorts. Standing close to Donovan, making sure that the First Mate was as calm as the situation could warrant, she awaited for a standard briefing, getting quite the surprise.

Mateo was under threat of being scrapped. They wanted Thomyris in exchange. And Iona was agreeing to it? That was nonsense. The captain would go great lengths to save a crewmate, but sacrificing one for another? That made no sense. Maybe she didn't know Iona as much as she had thought if she was agreeing to that, ordering Donovan to apprehend her.

Maybe she didn't know Iona at all.

Garrison · Jun 9, 2017

Arthur Crecy
Location: Kolberg Station basement level

Large crates of mostly forgotten things inhabit this level of Kolberg station, it is dark nearly pitch black, except for a small screen in a long forgotten corner where two men are conducting business.

" alright Roach is this thing on? And there won't be anyone listening in right? I dont want anyone listening in on what I have to say" Arthur stood over the hunched form of "roach" your average computer nerd, who was being paid a hearty sum to code and send this message. In more of a low squeak than a voice roach responded "yeah. Should do. You've got 60 seconds before people start wondering where this came from so be brief. starting... Now" pressing the last key on his keyboard and starting
A timer. 60,59,58.

"Attention all hands of the St. Anne this is a priority broadcast, listen I don't have much time so I will be brief, I heard about what happened to your cyborg friend, I also know that you hold a great big payday for anyone who can collect her. You can call me Crecy and I would like to help, but this service won't be free I've got some cargo as well as myself that will need to move out of this system once it's done because I doubt the blue mountain company will be happy that I'm screwing them over like this. Send a shuttle to bay 4 and we can talk more in depth."

With a wave of a hand roach cut the transmission at 2 seconds left "well boss I hope you know what you are getting yourself into... Blue mountain, they never forget" roach whistled. Arthur just smiled and laid down a credit chip "eh what's one more company hunting me, they can take a number, do you have bay 4 cleared?"
"Yeah a little gas leak warning and the entire sector closes down for at least an hour, you should be fine" roach responded clearly proud of himself. "Well then I guess I better get down there" Arthur sighed hefting up a large rucksack onto his back as well as slinging a gym bag over his shoulder, his sword still neatly in place despite the other objects competing for back space. He bid a short farewell to roach as he climbed into the elivator eager to get this party started.

Location: kohlberg station bay 4

"God it reaks it reaks in here" Arthur said to himself wrapping a bandana around his nose to cover the smell of rotting eggs, he didn't know how long he would have to wait, they didn't even have a way to contact him back, all they could do was bring him aboard 'it's better that way, there will be fewer ears to try and listen in on their conversation, fewer eyes that can spy on them' he thought to himself as he took a seat against the back wall, took out a small wooden duck and some paints and began to get to work.[/i][/color]

Kosmik_Khaos · Jun 9, 2017

Donovan
Location: St. Anne Loading Bay
Evening Watch
Tagged: Jin-Lai, Elaine, Thomryis

Donovan collected the accounts of Jin and Thomryis processing the information about the unknown status of two of the crew, and the events of Thomryis and Iona's attack. Sighing heavily he shook his head. "We all have skeletons Ris, and you're not the only one being hunted. As for the Blue Mountain group, Sandra Mung is as real as her name gets. I've seen it in some documents I came across while on the station, and they will more than likely be coming after me as well if they can link me to what happened on the station. "They may have been waiting for us but they obviously don't know enough or have planet sized genitals to fuck with my crew. When Iona wakes I'll debrief her."

He was about to dismiss them when Elaine came storming into the bay from under the Annie. He turned to her and cocked an eyebrow at her outburst, his eyes starting to glow their tell tale orange whens he moved her hand to the handle of her pistol. "Unless you want me to break your arm remove your hand from the gun." He said in a voice that held no threat, just him stating a fact. I didn't issue the recall, Iona did, and she is currently unconscious, when she wakes we will know, but it could have something to do with a surprise attack on them and an attempt on her life to capture Ris. Until I hear something about Serena and Mateo I am going to assume they have taken the two of them as well. No everyone settle the fuck down. This is an emergency situation and Iona needs us to be thinking clearly and ready to react, we can get all emotional after this is handled." He ordered before waking away from the three women.

Donovan
Location: St. Anne Bridge
Evening Watch
Tagged: All

On his way to the bridge to check the ships messages like Jin had suggested Donovan stopped by his room and collected the stolen intel on the Blue Mountain group. He wasn't certain to its complete accuracy but having dealt with organizations and individuals like them before he knew the importance they held in having leverage over each other to keep everyone working together in an environment were loyalties shifted as easily as the winds.

Reaching bridge he saw the hatched closed and checked it. Locked. That could only mean that Iona was awake and inside. He considered using the override code but opted out of it. She had her reasons for everything and he trusted the woman. It was only a few minutes wait before her voice rang echoed in his head and over the St. Anne's comm's. When she opened the hatch he was the first in and walked silently to her standing a few feet behind her and to the right. Reading her body language he stood with his legs parted, feet squared with his shoulders and hands folded together behind his back. The intel was rolled up and tucked into his back pocket. He would give it to her after she addressed the crew.

Donovan watched as the rest filed into the bridge his eyes their standard burnt orange not feeling the need to have his implants active. Once the known crew was in attendance he turned to face Iona's back and watched the video that was brought on screen.

His eyes flared into bright burning orbs at the sight of Mateo being worked over. The screeching static wailed in his skull as his anger flared and his fingers started to do the dance of dying spiders once again. His entire body started to twitch sporadically in his anger as more of his implants came to life under his skin.

Donovan watched Iona as she turned and snatched the cuffs from the air with a movement so fast his arm seemed a blur. Turning his glowing eyes on Thomyris his face surprisingly held no anger, but the cold expression was all the more terrifying for it. There was something inhumanly disconnected about it. Like he was looking at everything as though none of it held any value what so ever, including the lives of the crew. Walking with purposeful strides he stopped before Thomyris. "Captain's orders." He said simply before latching the cuffs onto her wrists leaving her arms in front of her. He did it out of respect and to give her at least a shred of dignity. She wasn't a prisoner and he felt no need to have her arms bound behind her back. "Please don't struggle Ris. I would hate to have to hurt you." His words were kind, but he tone in which he spoke was flat, devoid of all emotion. He was simply a tool acting out the will of his captain right now, his personal feelings set aside, far aside.

The St. Anne

Magenta Goon

αὐτοκράτωρ

God is empty, just like me.

Magenta Goon

Planetoid

Supernova

αὐτοκράτωρ

Supernova

God is empty, just like me.

Star

Magenta Goon

αὐτοκράτωρ

Star

God is empty, just like me.

Supernova

Magenta Goon

Star

αὐτοκράτωρ

Planetoid

Planetoid

Star

Supernova

Magenta Goon

Withdrawn

God is empty, just like me.