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Pandora's Box; No blue people allowed.
Topic Started: Jan 29 2011, 02:10 PM (3,716 Views)
~Alissa~
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“Always know who is better than you kitty, and who thinks they are better than you, either way you get an advantage”

Cat could hear her father’s advice echoing back as if she were still eight sighting down range at a target

“Don’t think that there isn’t any one better than you, there always will be, and never assume you are better than anyone else”

And Cat knew the woman sitting at the table was better than she was, at least that’s what the record would show, though in truth Grace as the grey fox had more time to establish that record. To date no one had heard of Cat, which in the end was fine with her. And so Cat sat at the table in the galley with Grace trying to think of something that she should say and coming up short. In part because there was very little she felt would be of value to say, but largely because she was not sure she could keep her professional enthusiasm in check. And so in an attempt to keep the situation from becoming too awkward cat picked up the part of the pistol she had been cleaning before grace arrived and resumed her work. When the Captain returned she found herself quite grateful for the break in the silence.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

“Captain Powel?”

Alex nodded looking towards Grace with mild curiosity.

"I'm Grace. Come with me. Jimmy Vega wants to see you."

Alex looked at her a moment as if considering how best to approach how he was going to respond.

“I suppose that works more often than not; I've been summoned by Jimmy Vega, ought to drop everything and follow you to where ever a known gangster wants to meet to have a chat?”

As Alex saw it Vega was trying to control the meeting; control the scene to keep Alex uncomfortable, and control the situation to make himself seem more important. Truth was Alex had seen the approach too often to believe that anything other than that was going on.
“I’m sorry, and no disrespect…..but no thank you”

He moving over to pick up a pad on which Mike had written out his list of repairs for the ship before departing, noting how far along everything seemed to be before turning back to grace

“I’m really very busy you see….need to take on supplies, contacts to see, and since are planned departure time is fast approaching I am going to have to decline the invitation”

He looked to Grace a moment and seemed to consider something for a moment

“Tell you what, I will be at the Captain’s Daughter tonight at 8 for my last meal planet side before we take off, your boss wants to talk to me, he can meet me there”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Hannah sat on the bridge quietly considering the problem of the Hardcase, at first she had considered placing an anonymous call to the police advising them that there was a large amount of something illegal on the competing ship, her second impulse had been to tell the ships computer that if the ship were to ascend above 45 feet it was in danger of explosion. It was as she was attempting to come up with a response that would not cause too much friction on the ship when a second message appeared.

“we are popular today” she said slightly amused, already they had Grace sitting in their galley in an attempt to bring Alex in for a meeting of some kind, the Hardcase had made a heavy handed and ultimately useless attempt at intimidation, and now this.

“This is Validus. I’m going to assume you got Hardcase’s message.

“I’d like to propose an alliance, at least until Hardcase isn't a threat. We stick together as long as we can and watch each other’s backs. I propose equal exchange of goods and supplies, as well as something very special I think you’ll be particularly interested in.”

"If you’re interested in discussing terms you can meet us at The Captain’s Daughter at 10:00 tonight.”

Hannah sat there quietly for a moment looking at the screen replaying the message once to be sure she understood what was being offered. In her time since leaving home with Alex her natural skepticism had evolved into a suspicion of any offer of help from someone who had not already proven to be trustworthy.

“Vega thinks we are a threat” came Alex’s pronouncement as he entered the bridge speaking to his sister coming in and plopping down in the navigators chair looking to his sister for a moment “ I set up a meeting to hear him out”

Hannah nodded pausing her own train of thought for a moment “how is Sergey?” she asked waiting a bit to dump the messages from the hardcase and Validus on her brother.

“The same as always”

“We have some messages” Hannah said before starting the two messages for her brother. After they were finished he looked to his sister

“well what do you think?”

“ We've haven’t been scared off by an ugly face before, why start now?” she said with a smirk “and we should hear what Validus has to say….it might be worth listening too, but I wouldn't trust them any farther than we serve their needs”

Alex nodded and stood “ I’m going to go check on mike and see when we can get this tub airborne, if we are being underestimated I want to use that advantage.



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((Sorry folks, life happened.))
[EDITED]
To passerby’s the hawk shaped bomber taking up port in Bellingham looked odd enough already, watching two giants and a twig of a girl exit the ship together made it look as if it belonged in a circus of mishapen freaks. Despite their best efforts to blend in, they really were an odd group. The party of three stuck to the shadows in the streets in the hopes of being less conspicuous, but they only drew more attention to themselves by looking like the type of group you wouldn't want to bump into in a dark alley.

Kaori trailed the two giants from a few feet behind. She whistled the tune to The Good Ship Ragamuffin and bounced a duffle off her thigh with every step.

“Be careful with that” Validus shouted behind him. “We wouldn’t want anything in there to break open. It’d be a waste.” Kaori stopped swinging the bag and carried it more carefully. She made a face at the back of Validus's head.

“I’m kind of expecting this whole thing to, Pfffdt, blow up!” She stretched out her arms to mimic an explosion along with her sound effect.
“Even if it doesn't work we’ll at least get another look at more of the crews. I hear a lot of them have been visiting this bar.”

Her pace quickened so she could walk alongside Istus. She nudged into him playfully. “We’ll get some drinking in too, right? I bet you’re a beast to drink with!” She winked at him, making the giant smile and blush while he looked away shyly.

“No drinking tonight, well, not too much anyway.” Validus smiled. “A few won’t hurt I suppose.” He grinned back at the two. “I bet you’re a light weight!” he gestured to Kaori. She simply responded with a smirk.

They rounded the corner into the orangish glow that came from the signs outside The Captain’s Duaghter. Istus covered his eyes while they adjusted to the glow. Behind his beefy hand was a toothy grin of excitement. This would be a first for him, having been the only one in a group that had never been to a pub. This was mostly on account of him and his brother either being sheltered in a lab or being cooped up with the other projects in hiding. That and any time they were on missions somewhere with a pub he was almost always left to guard the doors.

In fact the whole reason they had strayed this far in the universe was because of Kaori. Her stories of being outside the confines of laboratories and compounds gave them a taste for rebellion and convinced them going into hiding was less interesting than the alternative. Most of what she did before meeting up with their group was thievery and small jobs for disreputable parties; but man did her stories make it look far better than it actually was. She told good story.

A story that was good enough to convince two lost lambs how much better the freedom of the world was than the safety of a group of people just like them.

So she was a little selfish, and maybe she exaggerated a little when she explained the outside world, she really just convinced them to leave because she knew she could never go on her own. Who cared anyway? She was having fun anyway. Well, she’d have more fun if Validus wasn’t such an honorable spoil sport. Besides, they were big enough to care for themselves, no one would get hurt anyway.

Kaori’s face was scrunched up into a thoughtful scowl.

“Diy-al!” Istus nudged her gently and showed her is childish grin, encouraging her to smile. She faked a smile back to him then followed Validus through the door. She was going to make this way more fun, Validus would just have to learn what fun was.

“Can we have a private table, please?” Kaori smiled at the bar tender. He waved a boney finger at a waitress and gestured towards a round table surrounded by a cluster of portable screens. The waitress picked up a notepad and pen and led them over to the secluded table.

“We’re expecting some friends from a ship called the Persephone.”
“Ok!” She nodded cheerfully, making her high ponytail bounce back and forth. “Can I get you guys anything special?” She looked directly at Validus, giving him a look that made him feel slightly uncomfortable.
“Whiskey.” He responded politely.
“Uh, I’ll take a Mojito!” Kaori chimed in and slid into a chair. The waitress scowled at her as if she’d been interrupted; all the while she scribbled her order down on the pad without stopping to looking at it. She looked over at Istus. “And you, Honey?”

But Istus wasn’t paying attention; he stared around the room with a stupid grin on his face. Kaori kicked his boot to get his attention.

“What can I get you, Honey?” The waitress repeated.
“Dayons!” He gave her the same stupid smile he’d been wearing since they entered the bar. She looked unamused.
“We don’t serve that.” She said flatly.
“No, he said Crayons,” Validus coughed. “y’know what, just get him a ginger ale…” he coughed again.
“Ok!” She did her cheerful ponytail bounce again. “I’ll be right back honey.” She winked at Validus and turned away.

Validus sat down in a chair, it creaked under his weight. He looked almost like an adult sitting at a child sized table. He rested his elbow on the table and squeezed at the bridge of his nose between his eyes.

“Crayons… at a bar.” he sighed. “If she brings you crayons, I’ll tip her 100%” Istus wasn’t paying attention, he just continued to look around with his goofy grin.

“I think you’re just looking for an excuse to keep that waitress around.” Kaori gave him an over enthusiastic wink. “Ok, Honey!” she mocked.

A smirk formed on Validus’s face, but he cleared his throat and looked down. She was back, and she had brought crayons.
Edited by RipTheJacker, Dec 19 2012, 04:02 PM.
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~The Boss~
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((Joint post with Alissa))

Grace followed Alex into the cockpit, quietly enough so that he did not notice, and thus let his guard down. She caught the tail end of his conversation with Hannah, which was just enough for her.

"Hi," she said, knocking on the open bulkhead. "Listen, I understand that you're busy and all, but Jimmy really wants to talk to you. C'mon, it won't take long. Our ship is in a hangar just up that way." She waved off vaguely to her left. "All he asks is that you listen to what he has to say. If you don't like it, you can walk away."

Alex was honestly surprised that Grace could not take the hint, more so that she would be brash enough to follow him up tot he bridge.

Hannah reached over and lifted up a small handheld radio "Sam to the bridge."

There was a scratch followed by a gruff sounding "on my way" from the other end

"If Vega really wants to talk with me I've told you when and where," came Alex's slightly annoyed response "but I don't meet with people I don't know and don't trust where they control everything if I can help it. and a ship surrounded by I don't know how many thugs does not sound like my idea of a stress free meeting," he said crossing his arms as he looked at grace quietly for a moment.

"At this point I suspect you've done a bit of digging, saw there wasn't any dirt to speak of," he said quietly "so with what you know about me, suggest a good reason for me to follow you, that speaks to my needs."

Grace gave him a wry little smile. "I saw Frankie Bones today," she said. "He was hanging around here this morning, staking out your ship. Wasn't being very subtle about it, either. Honestly, I don't know why you guys let him get away with this shit. I sure as hell wouldn't. I'm sure you've got your reasons."

She had started to pace around the cockpit, examining things she wasn't really looking at, casually fiddling with an unidentified engine part that had been left on a ledge. She projected a very carefree aura, which in this particular situation was either very odd or very ominous.

"I mean," she went on, "I know he's just a small time thug and he'll never be anything more than that. Our people have had run-ins with him before, and I get it, he's barely worth the effort. But c'mon, at the very least, it's gotta be annoying as hell when you're trying to do your job and you got that guy constantly up your ass.

"Wouldn't it be nice to not have to worry about guys like Frankie Bones ever again?" She smiled at him even wider this time. "C'mon, it'll be alright. No thugs, just me."

Hannah looked to her brother, who while in private or with the crew around she would challenge, with a stranger on board he is the captain, and she was not too likely to directly challenge a choice he made. Alex for his part did not appear too likely to change his mind, he was stalling, waiting for Sam to get there, because at the moment with Hannah on the bridge with this stranger he did not care to try anything too aggressive.

"Francis is a thug, nothing more. A two bit smuggler who covers it with salvage, we are competitors, but nothing more than that," Alex said pushing out of the navigators station and moving across the bridge looking at a console, it displayed various statistics about the ship but it was not why he crossed the space. It placed him between Grace and his sister.

"Captin' I wouldn't call being alone with the Grey Fox exactly safe either." came the gruff voice of same as he walked through the corridor coming to stand leaning against it, he was older, perhaps in his 40's though hard to tell, well over 6 feet in height which meant he had to duck through most hatches on the ship, a large auto pistol was holstered at his hip though for the moment he held an apple in one hand and a knife in the other, the blade pushing through the fruit before he used it to bring the bit too his lips to eat. His head was shaved though it looked as though he hadn't bothered in the last few days, to match a four day old beard, there was enough growth on top of his head to make it clear it would not all grow back.

"Sam," said Alex quite happy to see the former mercenary on the bridge, one of the reasons he was glad to have the old merc on board was that he took Hanna's safety almost as seriously as Alex did. "Our guest here was just trying to convince me to a private meeting with her boss, I suggested a dinner meeting, she is... persistent."

Sam lifted a piece of apple to his lips and munched on it scratching the underside of his chin with a knuckle as he stepped into the bridge a bit more fully, heavy boots making a lot more noise then they had when he walked up behind Grace in the beginning.

"Capn's too polite some times, not the sort to throw a pretty lady off his ship if he don't have too." He wiped the apple juice off his knife and slid it into its sheath. "I don't have that problem, I suggest you tell your boss the time the Capn' finds most convenient."

"Fine. It's gotta be like that, then it's gotta be like that."

Grace looked past Sam and over at the captain. "So, see you at seven, then? Don't be late. And... you might wanna wear something that doesn't have engine grease all over it."

She threw him a wink then disappeared out the hatch.

Alex called down the corridor at the retreating figure of Grace "I said eight!"

he chuckled a bit shacking his head before he caught the expression on the big mercenary's face. "Sam?"

"I dunno Capn' .....I just don't like it, you got no experience dealing with these types, the Russian likes you, and all the others play at being legit, Jimmy Vega is a dyed in the wool gangster, and he don't know you yet."

Alex studied Sam a moment. "I'll be careful, I always am." Sam nodded and glanced towards Hannah a moment who was watching the displays following Grace with the ships internal cameras making sure nothing happened on the way out. Alex looked to his sister a moment then back to Sam. "Just make sure we are ready in case I'm not careful enough"

Sam chuckled and left the siblings alone on the bridge, they all had enough work for the day.

Later that evening shortly before he told Vega he would be there Alex sat down for his traditional last meal planet side before taking off, though for the moment Hannah was not with him, that would come after his meeting with the gangster.

.......................

It wasn't hard to find the kind of people they needed. All Nick and Ronnie needed to do was hang around the ghetto for a while and drop Jimmy's name. It carried a lot of weight in places like this, and sure enough, soon thugs and bangers came flocking to them.

The difficult part was sorting out they guys who could get the job done versus the local idiots who couldn't shoplift a candy bar without screwing it up. And given the short window they were working with, it wasn't like they could do much proper vetting. Still, there were a handful of guys with good reputations that they could verify through more than one source. It wasn't much to go on, but then again, they only needed them for one job, anyway. One job where "success" was defined very loosely.

Once they had their crew, the job was a go.

.......................

Grace had to smile when they walked into The Captain's Daughter. It was everything she had expected and more.

She and Jimmy arrived at seven o' clock sharp. The way he was dressed, he looked like the sort of person who wouldn't be caught dead in a place like this, and yet as he walked around he seemed oddly comfortable here.

"Put this all on my tab," Jimmy said to Powell's waitress as they sidled up to his table. "And... bring us over a bottle of that Blue Label scotch."

"Um... sir... that' s three hundred-"

"I know." He slipped a thick wad of cash into her apron and smiled. She scampered off, and he turned his attention to Alex.

"Captain Powell," he said, extending his hand. "Jim Vega. pleasure to meet you."
Edited by The Boss, Jan 12 2013, 02:33 PM.
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~Alissa~
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“Captain Powell, Jim Vega. Pleasure to meet you”

Alex looked across the table as he found himself sitting at a table with Jimmy Vega, he was fairly sure he knew of more than a few thugs out there who would gladly sell out a friend to be at this table for this reason. Captain Powell however was not one of those people. He knew that Vega wanted something from him, but in truth what it was he could not tell.

From his encounter with Grace that afternoon he knew that Vega had done a little digging but not enough to get a real idea as to what kind of man Alex was. It was clear to Alex, at least on the surface, that Vega was putting a lot of effort into impressing him, it wasn’t working
Alex looked at the hand a moment before reaching across to shake the offered hand

“I’ve got to admit, I was surprised at the requested meeting. A message would have done the trick”

He said, ignoring the fact that he had declined Vega’s request for a more prompt meeting. Alex was never the sort to play these sorts of games.

“What is it you wanted to speak to me about?”
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"Well, I like to do these sort of things face to face, you know?" Jimmy replied as he pulled up a chair. "What can I say, I'm an old fashioned guy. Never did like talking through a computer screen."

Grace settled in right next to him, never taking her eyes off of Alex the entire time. Her expression was inscrutable. On one hand, it was entirely reasonable to assume that she was sizing him up as a potential threat, try and see how seriously they should take him. On the other hand, one could easily see something clearly seductive in those eyes of hers if they chose to.

"But I wanted to talk about the job," Jimmy said, lighting himself a cigarette, Grace doing the same. "And the future. Your future, to be specific. Been learning all about you, Captain." He took a manila folder out of his jacket and tossed it on the table in front of Alex. "Got yourself a good little salvage business going, now it looks like you're ready to hit the big time."

The waitress returned with the expensive bottle of scotch along with three glasses. She started to leave before Grace stopped her. "Bring me a gin and tonic, please," she asked. "Make it a double."

After flashing his girl a look that she ignoring, he turned back to Alex. "Anyways, like I was saying," he continued, "this is a pretty big job for you guys. The kind that could set you up for life." He poured some scotch into all three glasses, despite the fact that Grace had just snubbed him (no doubt that was as intentional as could be).

"But what happens if things go south, huh?" Jimmy asked. "What then? You gonna keep going through dead peoples' pockets for spare change?"

.........................

Around the time that Jimmy and Grace were meeting with Alex Powell, a nondescript white van drove across the tarmac at the spaceport. It made a couple of passes, then finally pulled up in front of a hangar, wherein the Jeremy's Fame was docked.

The rear of the van flew open, and out stepped a half dozen heavily armed men. One of them carried a shoulder-mounted RPG, and launched a greeting at the Fame's cockpit windshield.

"Kill anything that moves!" one of them shouted, and the rest of the thugs opened fire.
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Alex flipped the folder open looking at it quietly, there were photos from the meeting which didn't surprise him, as well as photos from outside the ship, and a scattering of information. Impressive considering the time frame but incomplete to say the least.

“Salvage and recovery” Alex corrected quietly ignoring the scotch in front of him before closing the folder and pushing it away leaning back in his chair looking across the table toward Jimmy for a long moment.

“ I've done some digging on you as well…..ambitious, ruthless in your own way but that’s how your world works isn't it?” He reached over to the beer that was still sitting in front of him taking a quiet drink before setting it down. “I know what people say about me Mr. Vega, what I don’t know is what you are hoping to accomplish”

--_--_--_--_--_--_--_--_


“I don’t understand why we are here” was the statement from Cat. The here in question was an indoor pool all but abandoned, not too far off

“We are here because the captain wants to make sure that his sister is safe while he meets with Vega” said mike whose feet were up on a table with a mojito in his hand relaxing for the moment. Hannah was in the pool swimming laps.

“That part I understand, I also understand leaving the ship, why are we at a pool?” water made Cat uncomfortable, it was not that she could not swim, her father had made sure of that, but she and water had a history.

“well….” Mike sat up taking a drink before leaning across the table speaking a little lower so his voice didn’t carry as much. “Hannah wasn’t always in that chair you know, some sort of accident back on the kids’ home planet, they won’t talk about it. But I know it has to do with why she’s in that chair and Alex left the service”

Cat was quiet a moment nodding “but...?”

“The pool is because it’s the only place on the surface of a planet where Hannah can move freely, it’s good exorcise, which her doctors say is good I imagine. And if you spent all your time in a chair like that I imagine you would want to do anything you could to get out of it” mike took another drink and looked to the pool where Hannah was floating on her back looking up at the ceiling a moment before shaking his head.

Cat was quiet a bit as she studied Hannah before looking at her hands processing what mike had told her. “The Captain was in the service?”

“Yeah, real rising star too, they would give him a gunship full of marines and send him off to deal with smugglers and pirates and the sort, I swear I saw him come back from missions that he should not have, a real believer in the cause” mike took a drink “ more than me for damn sure, but when what ever happened to his sister happened he didn’t even hesitate, discharge for family emergency” Mike grinned “ my departure was less noble I would say”

Cat smirked and shook her head before lifting the ice water she was drinking from the table “That doesn’t surprise me for some reason”

Mike laughed and held up his glass “you’ll fit in just fine”

--_--_--_--_--_--_--_--_

Sam had been out in the market buying supplies when he heard the rumors; Jimmy Vega was looking for muscle for some job or another. And so he tagged along with a group going to check it out. His logic was simple enough, make sure that Vega wasn’t moving against the Persephone, and if he was deal with it. Looking at the collection of thugs it didn’t seem to him that he had that much to worry about but as the doors of the van slid open and he was looking at Jeremy’s Fame he knew that things were going to get out of hand. In the confusion he slipped away, none of the thugs even seemed to notice and he suspected soon enough they would all be making friends with the hardcase, and he wasn’t going to watch what happened next.

“bet he used to throw rocks at hornet nests too” he said quietly to himself as he exited the area
Edited by Alissa, Feb 22 2013, 01:51 PM.
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"Isn't it obvious? I'm looking to strike a deal."

Jimmy knew that this kid probably already knew exactly what he wanted. He also probably already had his mind made up. But that was okay. Every man had his price. He just needed to find Powell's.

"You see Alex - can I call you Alex? You see Alex, I been around this business my whole life. I seen guys like you come and go since I was a kid. Hotshot space cowboys with a lot more pride than sense. Ain't got a pot to piss in but they think they're Robin Hood."

As Jimmy spoke, Grace's attention had been wandering, as it often did. Soon she spotted the trio seated over in a quiet corner of the bar. It took her a second, as they were in street clothes, but eventually she recognized them as the other crew out on this job - the girl and her bodyguards.

"I'll be back," she said, getting up from her chair.

"Where you going?"

"I'm gonna go say hi to the competition." Jimmy just glared back at her. "Hey, you're doing a great job," she said. "I think he's about to crack."

As she headed off to the other table, Jimmy could only shake his head. She did this kind of thing all the time. Anyone else might have gotten glass in their face or a bullet in their kneecap.

"What was I saying... oh yeah. Guys like you are a dime a dozen. Now, to be fair, you could probably say that guys like me are a dime a dozen as well. But you see, the difference between a guy like you and a guy like me is that a guy like me doesn't need this job. I could care less, actually. I'm here for one reason and one reason only, and that's to collect on a debt. And that debt will be paid, one way or another. So it doesn't make any difference to me whether or not I come up short.

"You, on the other hand, if you don't score that bounty, then what happens? You confident you gonna be able to take care of your sister? Or would you rather have a backup plan in case it all goes to shit? I mean, it really is that simple. You help me out, and I'll make sure you and your crew get paid regardless of the outcome of this little game."

................

"Hi!" Grace said, appearing at the trio's table. One of them, the big one, was coloring on the cocktail napkins.

"I'm Grace. Mind if I sit down?" She pulled up a chair before getting an answer, draping her newly purchased leather coat on the back and revealing the art gallery that was her right arm. "I have to confess I've been following you. I mean, just for a while. Standard intelligence-gathering operation, I'm not a weirdo or anything.

"You're here to meet Captain Powell, right? He said he was meeting somebody, and here you are, so I'm just assuming. Jimmy's almost done, I think. He's probably wasting his time, unless he's got something else going on here. Still, I say let him have his fun."
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Alex sat listening quietly to Jimmy, in part because he was not rude, but mostly because it was slightly entertaining to watch the gangster make his point. He watched with a slightly amused expression as Grace got up to wander over to the table with the other crew….his next meeting. Inwardly he hoped she didn’t scare them off, but outwardly there was no sign of any interest one way or the other.


“When I was a kid we had a farm, it was a farm colony really, but we didn’t have the sort of weather control you see in some places.” He was quiet a moment taking a drink from his beer, ignoring the scotch and drawing the story on longer, inwardly because he was curious to see how much he could press Vega’s patience. “Used to say plan for drought, hope for rain. He also said never take a risk you can’t walk away from. Dad wasn’t really much of a gambling man, neither am I Mr. Vega. Although from what I hear you are”

Alex knew where Sam was, the old mercenary had told him that he had been approached by someone saying Jimmy Vega was looking for muscle, that they were attacking some ship. Alex had asked him to tag along. Before same had made his furtive escape he had snapped a few photos, just for effect, and sent them off to Alex who he knew to be meeting with Vega.

“I heard an interesting rumor around the market today about you today” Alex said leaning back in his chair looking across the table toward Jimmy reaching into a pocket and pulling out a small tablet computer, flipping it on looking to it a moment before setting it on a table, the first image was of men running at a ship, there was a fire burning already “That ship right there….belongs to the hard case, someone around town was hiring muscle not too subtly saying it was for a job you wanted done” he flipped to the next image “Sam tagged along to make sure that it wasn’t the Persephone, sent these along to let me know I could relax I imagine” a third and final picture sailed by before Alex put the device away. He leaned back and this time picked up the scotch taking a drink and leaned back grinning a moment.

“If fully half of what I’ve heard about the Hardcase is true, those thugs are going to fail. At least one will live long enough to be questioned, they will tell the man in charge that they work for Jimmy Vega, and what do you think he will do with that information?”
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"You're here to meet Captain Powell, right? He said he was meeting somebody, and here you are, so I'm just assuming. Jimmy's almost done, I think. He's probably wasting his time, unless he's got something else going on here. Still, I say let him have his fun."

“I guess this is quite the popular place to be…” Kaori sniffed, pulling her glass to her lips. Validus shot her a dirty look.

“I’m Validus, this is my brother Istus.” He motioned at his brother, completely immersed in his crayons. “And the pleasant one is Kaori; she’s an associate of ours.”

Kaori held her glass up and nodded.

“So why would Vega be interested in Captain Powell’s crew?” Validus fiddled with the glass in front of him. “Wouldn’t they be kind of a terrible ally since they’re all crippled by having a handicapped crew member?” Kaori added, trying to devalue them to the competition. She got another dirty look, this time it was Istus glaring up from his pile of crayons and crumpled cocktail napkins.

It was quiet for a moment before Validus chimed in again. “Is Jimmy trying to make some kind of alliance?”

Kaori crushed the napkin in front of her and used it to wipe her mouth. She was getting increasingly frustrated with these two. Their complete lack of socialization made them easy for her to manipulate, but they were clearly an easy con for everyone now. Too many alliances and she won’t get her 50/50 split. The logic made sense to them; they split the money by units. The brothers were one unit, she was the other. Clearly Validus was just as challenged as his brother.

She had to step in before they gave the whole reward away to starving children and Princes from 3rd world planets. She had to get out of this crew.

“Do you want another drink, Grace?” she smiled.
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As much as Jimmy would have liked to act like this didn't bother him, his furrowed brow told a much different story. Right away, he knew what had happened: Nick and Ronnie launched a pre-emtive strike against the competition, and had gone behind his back because they knew he wouldn't approve. They were absolutely right.

But then again, Jimmy Vega was never one to let a little thing like this ruin his day.

"You think I got to where I am today by being scared of guys like the Hardcase?" he said, reverting back to his smirk. "Some guys like to pretend that guys like the Hardcase are the most dangerous cause they're so unpredictable. But those are usually the same guys who can't bring themselves to just put a bullet between his eyes. I ain't got that problem.

"As for what he'll do? Probably something predictably rash and stupid. And there's nobody better at exploiting the rash and stupid actions of crazy people like my girl over there. But you let me worry about that."

Finishing his last drink, he stood up and grabbed his jacket. "Tell you what kid," he said. "I come outta this mess smelling like roses, and then you'll know what's up."

.......................

Grace looked down at her drink. She'd barely touched it. "I'm good," she said. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jimmy get up to leave. "Well hey, I gotta go. It was nice meeting you!"

She headed over to him without even grabbing her gin. Well, they weren't gonna be much of a threat after all, it seemed.

((So, Alissa and I are gonna press on. Anyone wanna join, feel free.))
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