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Pocket of A Clown; Tag Away Team
Topic Started: Mar 10 2010, 02:22 AM (531 Views)
Hunter Williams
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Aerial Ace
'Aleksei Kosmachevskaia' frowned slightly at the controls before him, hesitating a hand near a panel to his left before shaking his head and flicking down a few switches overhead to disengage the auto-pilot. Good thing too, because on second glance he might have tried to vent the atmosphere using that first panel... Scarred hands grasped the yolk gently slowing the shuttle as carefully as he could, even if he tapped on those brakes a little to hard at first jarring everyone inside just slightly. Gorram touchy ass controls. "Good mornin' sunshines! Time to get a move on!" Glancing over his shoulder the mechanic turned temporary pilot and entertainer sent a grin back to the team packed away tightly in the aft of the shuttle.

"Now if ya'll would be so kind as to glance out port side, you'll have a great view of our vacation destination for the week!" It wasn't like they could have missed the thing if their eyes were open, and after that little jarring wakeup call not much could still be snoozing. The Bing Quan was an utterly massive thing; six full decks, two of them operations, all topped with an atmospheric dome that simulated, perfect planet side weather everyday and cleared in the evenings to show the 'wonders' of the universe. Pretty sure, but touristy stuff. This was also where the universe famous Three Ring circus was hosted every evening. Heck, not only was it an all night string of various performances, there was a carnival to wander through with rides, sideshows and all the tooth rotting sweets an disgustingly wealthy father could ever need to keep their showcase children quiet.

"Cressida Air kindly asks that you bring all luggage with you as you exit the craft and to remember that your cover names are to be used at all times once the shuttle has safely come to a rest in the landing zone!" A crackle of static came over the comm before the landing control tower patched through. "This is the S.S. Bin Quan, requesting name and landing authorization codes. Over." Hunter cleared his throat a little before punching the button that allowed him to return the call. "Zis ees Aleksei Kosmachevskaia. Ve haf landing auzorization from a Meester Hyde. Zee code ees: Charlie-Romeo-Sierra-Two-Tree-Seven. Over." "Permission to land granted, welcome aboard the S.S. Bing Quan."

It took him a minute of focus to maneuver the ship onto the docking platform, and they touched down with another sudden clunk he hadn't been meaning to do, but the air-seals locked into place without a hitch and the man stood from his chair with a sideways glance to Tom. He hoped like hell that mans wrist was back in working condition soon, he wasn't looking forward to piloting the trip home either. "Mighta been safer with you flyin' all one handed like. Ya'll know the drill; got your staff key cards that will give you access to the areas you are allowed to visit as well as your personal quarters. Good luck to each of you." They were going to need it. The hatch swung open and the mission was officially in play, Hunter pulled his bag up onto his shoulder and stepped out into the hallway casting his first glance about the luxury liner.
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Aurora Carlisle
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too damn pretty to die
Grabbing up her things, Rora stepped out after him. Listening to his speech was like the sound of nails on a chalkboard...

But Fi ought to be proud. They'd been working day and night with the daggers that were now stashed carefully in her luggage. Not really stashed, considering it was part of their cover.

'Rayna' was her name now, she reminded herself. Rayna Something-she-would-never-be-able-to-pronounce. Hunter had gotten decent at it, though, after hearing her rather horrid Russian accent, they'd decided he'd be doing most of the talking, while 'Rayna' would play quiet stupid girl. She hoped to god no one who actually spoke Russian would run into them.

Rora turned to Hunter, opening her mouth to say something to the other Mechanic in response to his little pep talk, but someone appeared at the end of the hall, approaching them.

Quickly slipping her hand into his, Rora snapped her mouth shut and smiled up at Hunter. Ech. It was a relief when they walked right past the group of circus performers. "It'll be a relief when this is over," she told him quietly, releasing his hand again.
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Gwen MacKenzie
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Operative
Gwen, no Anastasiya Cohen, was not pleased with this at all. Her hair was blond now and her eyes blue thanks to contacts. None of it was something that she liked and by the expression upon her face it was going to take a lot on Command's part to make up for it. Hrmphing a little as the shuttle was jerked around the woman almost stormed to the front and demanded the controls herself. But she couldn't. Her character wasn't good at flying ships just riding horses. Not to mention a part of her was missing the ship, but that wasn't here or now.

Once they were docked on their new home for a week the woman snatched her gear up giving Hunter a sharp look. "When we leave, I'm flying us back." It didn't take Gwen but a few steps to be off the shuttle once they had been given the clear. A bright smile split across her face as she turned her head back to the others. "Do you zhink zhat ve vill have bunks to self? Like on zee last wessel?" When another group of performers passed she clicked her tongue off the roof of her mouth shooting Rora and Hunter a careful glance. This was going to be... more than a little bit of a headache to her.
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Thomas Fisher
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Specialist
Tom wished he was flying instead of having Hunter fly there ship in. He could fly much more smoothly, he was the pilot after all. It sucked with the whole wrist thing, but at least he could participate in this mission with the rest of him. He had nothing to do but look around at the rest of them. They looked ridiculous, but he guessed that was the point. They were circus performers, but did they all look this ridiculous? Tom had never really seen too many circuses as a child or if he did, he did not remember them. So, thankfully, he didn't have to do anything too in depth that. Magic, that he was able to pick up and he had seen magicians before that. It wasn't like they were only in circuses alone. He scowled at the horrible landing. "If you don't fly back, Captain, I certainly will fly back even if my wrist is broken."

'Percival Worthington the third' or 'Percy' followed the other out. That name was a mouthful. He was glad that he didn't have to pretend to be Russian. Not only did they look ridiculous, they sounded it, too. That was probably why it was part of Tom's objective to make sure the other crew did not see that they weren't who they said they were and he followed Gwen's gaze over to Hunter and Rora. He wasn't sure how long it would be until someone guessed they weren't circus performers, but if Tom had to bet on it, he would have to say that they wouldn't last too long. Usually, he wasn't so pessimistic, but so many people and trying to keep a cover? He thought it was going to be a lot of work. "I hope so... this is a luxury liner after all," he muttered.

 
Aurora Carlisle
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too damn pretty to die
Rora caught the look from Gwen, and inwardly cringed. If there was one thing that terrified her, it was disappointing the older woman. Okay, okay, so she had to live with the man for a little while, throw knives at each other. She'd had to do worse.

So Rora slipped under Hunter's arm, moving her newly cut bangs out of her eyes with a shake of her head. "Ve need our room, dahlink." She hated that accent, and the words were shudder-worthy, but it got the look she wanted out of a couple passing by.
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Coralyn Cardew
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Specialist
Hunter’s tinny words over the intercom made Coralyn want to use words that she’d seen in the films but had never put into practice. Never, mind there were worse things to worry about. Today was judgement day. She had more make-up on then an entire floorshow combined. She was in shoes she sure as hell could not walk in and her hair had seemingly exploded into a nightmare. And not even that compared to the mad changes in her stomach. She had scarcely started towards the hatch, before she had to run back to the bathroom again to reacquaint herself with the basin. This wasn’t the best start. She even had to run before the hatch closed with her still on board, to catch up with the crew. Oh good lord, those accents. If Mikhail was here now he’d be in hysterics. Trying her damndest to ignore her surroundings, until she’d found her quarters, Cora dropped her shaking voice to the barest whisper.

“If in doubt, just say Я не понимаю тебя and walk away.” She advised, with a smile on her face that suggested that she’d just shared some trivial joke. That was always his solution when he just couldn’t be bothered to talk to people. It might work out in their favour. Turning around, and with her staff key gripped so tightly her knuckles were white, she headed off to find wherever it was she was going to be staying on this giant luxorious trap. She hoped beyond hope that there was a basin. This was a mistake, it was a horrible, horrible mistake and she was going to die looking like a prostitute.
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Jean Howlett
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Cadet
Woah. This Bǐng Quān ship was huge. Gazing out of the port side window, the boy could finally see just how different the ship they were going to was from the Cressida. For a whole week they would be on it. This was all so strange to Jean, so new, how long had it been since he left the life he knew back on Persephone? Not very long ago, and now he was already about to set foot on his second spaceship.

Even though they were on a mission, he was still having a hard time containing his excitement. Finally, they were minutes away from boarding the vacation ship. What was his cover name again? Oh, right, Ryan Glass. That was easy enough to remember. And Coralyn was supposed to be his older sister. That was all okay, but his outfit was just downright weird, all orangey with buttons, some lace, poofy sleeves, and baggy pants. Not to mention the hat he was wearing, which he was pretty sure was totally unnecessary… but one of the crewmembers had suggested he wear it, so he did.

Stepping out of the shuttle, the ‘juggler’ immediately started to gape at everything he was seeing. It was amazing on the inside too!
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Hunter Williams
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Aerial Ace
Hunter had practiced saying that last name of theirs over and over and over again trying to get it right. He'd even practiced the accent by listening to Russian cortex waves and repeating phrases. Over all he had it down decently well, the canter of speech and the emphasis on certain words; enough to pass easily to an un-tuned ear but he'd stick out like a sore thumb to anyone actually Russian. In case of that emergency though he'd probably drop back to common and play the 'Russian' off as part of their act. A risky move, but it would only be used as a last defense.

Rora's hand slipped into his and the man cringed inwardly, letting his fingers lace in with hers. He gave her a 'loving' smile, that was really more of a grimace in disguise, words hissed quietly between his teeth. "I'm going to dance for freaking joy when it is." Looking back over his shoulder to be sure the man had gone, he caught Gwen's look and slightly raised a brow at her. She thought this was trouble for her? How did she think they felt about the whole thing!

Oh god, here it goes. Rora moved beneath his arm and Hunter dutifully tucked her close to his right side. Shifting his opposing arm to carry the duffel against his back the straps pressed uncomfortably against the ring on his left hand. It felt out of place there, clumsy almost, and a dangerous think to have on when working with machines. He'd have to be careful not to lose it when he took it off to work the engines. "Eets good idea, yes. Then maybe ve see sights? Meester Hyde vas wanting to meet us all after dinner no? So ve has time." He raised his eyebrows playfully, trying to sell it to the steadily growing stream of people in the halls.

Cora's words caught him off guard, since when did she know Russian?! He filed the words away for future use, and would have to ask her what the hell it meant later. Jean was looking star struck and Hunter smiled genuinely for the first time since coming on board. "Ryan, mal'-chik, don't lose your seester now hey? All vill still be here ven you unpack."
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Pila Xiahou
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fire.starter
Pila loved new arrivals. Since she was still relatively new to the ship herself, it allowed her to attempt to make friends. Some of the original circus members were clique-y, and they didn't really want anyone new to join their elite little circle. So be it, Pila figured, she could make friends with other newcomers like herself.

When she spotted the new arrivals coming off of their ship and onto the Bǐng Quān proper, she couldn't help but smile. They were a rather rag-tag crew of folks, though a decent number of them seemed to speak with Russian accents. She looked them over from a distance before approaching, curious to meet each and every one of them.

Walking over to the group, she jammed her thumbs into the pockets of her worn, ratty blue jeans. Her shirt fared only a little better, being a t-shirt advertising some sort of Chinese cartoon show, with a little bunny and the characters for "Happy Fun Time" in obnoxious pink. She bowed her head in greeting and then introduced herself.

"Hey everyone! Um, I'm Pila, and welcome to the Bǐng Quān! I'm the resident fire-eater here..." She spotted the young boy and grinned. She cocked her head at him. "What's your specialty, my man?"
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Seraphina Grant
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Pocket Sized Fatalities
Fi glared at the back of Hunters head right up until the hatch popped open at which point she plastered her new mask on her face. Bright smile, eager eyes, and overall hopeful expression. She was gonna kill that man. Fi, no Violet Turner, picked up her bright pink trunk, rolling it behind her as she looked all around excitedly, eyes locking every vent, outlet and loose panel as she went. All of her costumes were fluffy and sequined and ridiculous and all of the clothes she got to wear were bright and ... not her usual style. She had no boots.

Her knives were in the lead lined false bottom of her trunk and she wouldn't be able to get to them quickly. Though She was handy with a needle and thread she might just make herself a flat band for her waist to wear under her loose shirts. Sadly there weren't a lot of them. She was circus folk now, her hair pulled into a high complicated braided bun, her makeup perfect and young and cheerful.

Fi ran up to catch Cora, her new roomie, smiling at everyone excitedly as she did. She was the chipper girl who'd never been on a luxury liner, all sweet and darling. The kind of girl men would want to take advantage of and never look at as dangerous. She caught Cora's whispered comment and raised an eyebrow. "But Sasha darling, you do understand and you wouldn't want to lie," She told the other girl, eyes wide and innocent as she spoke very softly. Her eyes trailed over the young woman that had come to join them, walking right up to Jean. She didn't like that the girl had picked the youngest member, potentially the weak link.

"Ryan, sweetheart, who's your new friend?" Fi smiled brightly at the young woman as she paused in the hall, parking the suitcase beside her as she watched him, waiting for the boy to catch up to herself and Cora ... Sasha. Her voice was sugary sweet and she tilted her head, making sure to keep her lips in that soft smile and her eyes wide. After all, she was a sweet wide eyed ingenue and very very trustful. Really
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Jean Howlett
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Cadet
“Oh. Right,” the boy answered in response to Hunter’s comment, racing ahead to catch up to Cora and the rest of the group. He hadn't even realized how far he had fallen behind while he had been admiring the ship. And there was one thing he had a complaint about. The fact that it was somewhat hard to understand what was being said any time someone spoke, the others all speaking with strange accents and all. But he’d get used to it… he hoped.

A strange woman had suddenly approached the group and introduced herself, causing him to stop again. “Thanks, Miss Pila,” Jean smiled as he greeted her. Out of all the people who had passed them by, she was the first person on the luxury liner to greet them and she seemed nice enough to him. “You eat fire?” he questioned with a puzzled look present on his face. She couldn’t really eat fire… could she? Hmm, now he’d have to find out. “I only juggle,” he shrugged briefly.

Hearing Fi speak his ‘name’, the preteen turned his head to look over at her. “Miss Pila here eats fire, F--Vi,” a minor slipup, but inside the boy winced. He couldn’t believe that already he had almost called her ‘Fi’. Luckily, though, he had managed to quickly change what he was saying to ‘Vi’…, which could be a nickname for someone named Violet. Ugh, right? God he hoped this lady wouldn’t notice.

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Pila Xiahou
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fire.starter
Pila smiled at the boy and shook her head from side to side. "Don't be too hard on yourself, juggling's not an easy feat! It took me longer to figure out how to juggle than it did learning how to extinguish a flame in my mouth. Maybe some time you can give me tips on juggling... I'm still a little rough at it," She told him, hoping to boost his confidence. There wasn't much a kid could do with the circus besides juggle or be a clown. Only the really talented kids could be acrobats, and most of them had trained since a very young age, and with acrobat parents. Besides, she wasn't lying to the kid. Juggling was tricky for her, especially with more than three objects. Sometimes she just got confused and started dropping things, and when a person was juggling flaming objects, that wasn't a good thing to do!

She looked up from Ryan to the woman he called "Vi." Interesting nickname, she wondered what her full name was? Probably something fabulous like Veronica or Vivian... something classy. She smiled cheerily at the rather pretty woman and extended her hand for the other to shake.

"Vi is it? I'm Pila, and I do in fact eat fire. Well, I juggle it, blow it into massive fireballs, and extinguish it in my mouth, but 'eat' is the general term for all of that..." She grinned. "Welcome to the Bing Quan! What is it you do?"

Pila wasn't trying to single anyone out or cause any trouble, she was just friendly by nature and drawn to kids. After all, kids hadn't lost their sense of wonder about the world yet. It was a shame that adulthood brought that out in people...
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Seraphina Grant
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Pocket Sized Fatalities
Fi smiled brightly on the outside while on the inside she quickly dissected every piece of the woman's costume to try and figure out if there was any telltale sign that she wasn't on the up and up. She took the hand in her own smaller grip, the calluses on her fingers and palms explained by the tightrope/trapeze world. She opened her eyes wide at the comment about eating fire, feigning admiration and a bit of fear.

"Fire is a mighty dangerous thing to be treating as a toy Miss Pila, you must be quite brave. I'm Violet and it's a pleasure to meet you," She tugged her suitcase to a stop beside her, biting her lip and glancing at the rest of her group out of the corner of her eye. She knew how to make it look like she wanted to stay and talk to someone even when she knew she had to be somewhere else. As a new person on the ship she should be settlin in with the irritating creature that was to be her roommate. That thought really did make her want to stay with the possible core planed circus member.
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Aurora Carlisle
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too damn pretty to die
Rora - gah! Rayna raised one already arched evebrow, trying not to show the discomfort the scarlet corset was causing her. She was not used to them, even as a Companion, Rora wore nothing confining like that.

Watching the petite little fire eater, her green eyes flicked up to Gwen, then to Fi, and back to Pila. "I kin niet imagine pleying vith fire like zat, jes? Ees difficult?"

Rora's mind kept jumping back to the fact that she had to pretend the man she hated was her new husband. New being the operative word. Maybe if they could have pulled off not being newlyweds, they could have pulled off not being so lovey-dovey, but that scowl behind 'Aleksei's' smile was a blatant reminder that things would not be so easy on the luxury ship. Which was ironic, but Rora could fake it. She hoped.

She also wished she'd practiced the accent more. Rora felt like she was gagging on something everytime she spoke, but she had devoted most of her time to practicing knife throwing. If she got mad enough, she was pretty good, enough that Fi would be proud.
Edited by Aurora Carlisle, Apr 23 2010, 10:03 AM.
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Pila Xiahou
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fire.starter
Pila smiled at the woman who warned her about the dangers of fire. She knew them quite well, but there were a lot more dangerous things in the 'verse to be worried about. The woman seemed to be anxious to get settled in, but she also didn't seem too quick to leave the fire-eater's company. Which was good, 'cuz she liked meeting new people.

As if to compliment the thought, another woman walked over, dressed fabulously, and asked about fire-eating being difficult. Pila shook her head and chuckled.

"It's not all that hard, you just have to be afraid of somethin' scarier than fire. Focus helps too. I love it, honestly. Best gig I've had in a while, I was a knife thrower's assistant once for a slightly near-sighted knife thrower... now that's a scary job."

She laughed again and bowed her head to the woman in red. "My name's Pila, I've met Vi and Ryan here, what should I call you?"
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Aurora Carlisle
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too damn pretty to die
Rora's lips curved up into a smile. "My neme ees Rayna Kosmachevskaia, and thees ees my husband, Aleksei. Ve are ze knife throwers." It was ironic - Rora was terrified of standing at the throwing end of Hunter's knives, but she was also not jealous of Pila's job.

You have to be scared of something other than - knives. Well...hm...having faced the risk of being attacked by Reavers, Rora could definately count that as a true fear. She had an inkling that's not what the other girl meant, but Rora found herself not caring. It was obvious that the other girl had had quite a different experience than the rest of the crew.

"So...Pila, ees eet? How is you liking de ship? I have not brrn on one like dees."
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Pila Xiahou
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fire.starter
Rayna Kosmachevskaia? Good lord that was a mouthful. Her husband was gorgeous though, that was for sure. Pila smiled and nodded when she heard that they were the knife throwing team.

"I'm glad he's better at it than my old partner was, then!" She said, clapping her hands together. "I got a blade to the thigh once... that was not a particularly pleasant experience and one I'd rather not relive."

Pila had been around Reavers too, had seen the nastiest parts of the black. The other woman didn't know, couldn't know, that the woman in front of her wasn't simple circus folk. Odd, that they were both living lies and neither knew of the other's farce.

"The ship? I haven't been on it long myself. The food's amazing, the beds are soft, and the hot water doesn't take twenty minutes to heat up... I might start going soft if I don't watch out!"

She smiled again. "Maybe we could all get a beer sometime... my treat? I'd love to get to know all of you a bit better."
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