Alpha Panda, Serenity RPG IC

[Adlan]

TAP
Engine room of Mary Celestia
"I've seen enough" the big mechanic appraised the engine room once more with his gaze.
"Nothing here will be fit for Alpha Panda, take whatever you want from the bridge..." I'll get that replaced anyway Tap thought, contemplating the improvements needed.
"... if theres anything you find worth taking.

He moved towards the doorway, pausing just as he ducked his head to pass through "I better go see to the Cargo Loading. List everything worth having, and we'll grab it later."

MedBay of the Alpha Panda
Jack Steadman just stared at the bed that had been his brothers. He was angry about his brothers murder, but more scared that of he drew any attention to himself he would be next on the slab... next for the injection. He sat, stock still and silent.

Ernest Ludlow, the grizzled mercenary, was also still and silent. But obviously a lot calmer, though stoic acceptance of any fate wasn't unusual in his type.

[Lentrax]

Sia
Somewhere in the Alpha Panda.

That about ought to do. He should be fine here.

Sia stepped back to admire the work she had done with a handkerchief. The knots should hold him long enough. Of course it was still going to be one helluva stinking ride to wherever they were heading next.

"Now you be a good boy. I've left you enough room to get your pants off your own self. But I'm gonna be right outside until the laxative I gave you does its work. Then I'll put you in a nice cozy room with a bucket."

[Space Lawyer]

Lei
Mary Celestia

Lei continues with her search for Amiri's gear, but takes care to look over the ship for anything worth taking, especially in the bridge or galley.

"Sorry girl, but the people flying you were some bad people. They shot at us and lost. We've got to take some stuff out of you to make sre we keep flying. Don't worry though, I'll make sure to send you somewhere real nice, to people that'll appreciate you.

Alertness (1d10)[2] + Technical Engineering (Hardware) (1d8)[7] to see if Lei notices anything worth taking.

[Adlan]

Amiri
Engine room of Mary Celestia

Amiri held out a hand to Lei, "Shei Shei*"

"I'm obbb.... obbb.... obb... obbbli... grateful to you. I don't forget a favour."

*Thanks

Crew Cabin of Mary Celestia

They had been over most of the ship, only the Bridge remained before Amiri would have started ripping open vents to see if they'd stashed his gear. Instead, in this, the biggest and best kept room was his trunk.

It was dumped in one corner, the lock opened with the key still in it. A duffle bag was ontop of it, end open and trailing clothes.

"Here it is..."

He dumped the duffle bag, and quickly sorted through the clothes, stuffing them back in.
..."Guess I was the wrong size for them, but they've got my coin purse out of it.

He opened the trunk, inside was a smaller strong box that had been smashed in, it's solid home built construction hadn't been able to stand up to machine tools.

Flipping it open, he spoke again.
"And my last pay"

He passed over a small bound leather roll.
"My Papers"

The rest of the trunk was filled with canvas wrapped packages that Amiri simply check the knots of. A few books and captures and momento's. Along the side was a long leather rifle Scabbard, and he placed that alongside the trunk.
"I won't be needing that will I?

He retrieved another bundle after running his hands over the tops and sides. They hadn't been cut open. The Bundle proved to be a fine dark cream sheepskin jerkin, the fleece on the outside, this he put on.

The last bundle was a pair of belts. One was a gun belt, with pistol in holster. The other was a tool belt, with 3 pouches hanging from it. He disentangled the gun belt, and placed it beside the rifle.

"Nor this."

He stood and buckled on the tool belt.

"I guess I'm ready to meet your Cap'n.

[Space Lawyer]

Lei
Engine room of Mary Celestia

Lei looks around the bridge. The decoration could be best described as "the fevered dream of the future from someone who had never seen a computer." Toggles, switches and dials cover consoles, replicating functions that could easily be handled from a single unified screen. Lei notes with distaste that they are marked with poorly written labels. What kind of pilot doesn't know their own ship well enough to fly without instructions?

It is almost as much of a disheveled mess as the rest of the ship, but not quite. Fruity-Oaty Bar wrappers and tubes of flavored protein litter the ground. By the pilot's station sits a large can. When Lei looks inside, it is filled with the remnants of chewed tobacco.

A flash of orange catches Lei's eye. Running up from the floor is a thick neon-orange cable, leading to an oblong black box. On the side are rows of blinking lights, some green, most red. Stenciled in white lettering is ""Ursa Mfg. Papa Bear Field Generator". A number of wires lead out of a junction on the top of the box. Right beside the junction though is clear, sticky patch. Lei takes a sniff."...Why is there syrup on here?" She shrugs, and sets about disconnecting the box. In a minute, she has it disconneted, along with the cables.

"No, I don't think you'll need any guns, Amiri. Might make the others nervous, given that they just had people trying to shoot at them. Anyway, I found this field generator. I'm going to see if I can hook it up in Alpha Panda.

She switches on her headset. "This is Lei. Tap and I found a prisoner on Mary Celestia. I'm bringing him over, along with some goodies we found."

[Adlan]

Amiri
With his duffle bag over his shoulder, and his trunk under the arm, he followed Lei who had his weapons and the part.

"Does it work?" was what he said, "prisoner?" was what he thought.

[Aneurin]

Cap'n Rogue
???
Many Years Ago

Hands reach in through the metal thing, trying to grab her. Rogue hisses and scratches at them and the hands are quickly drawn back, accompanied by muffled swearing.

Rogue takes her chance to scrabble backwards, further in to the air vents. She can hear the sound of retreating footsteps outside, but she's not fooled. They're just waiting for her to come out. Well, she can outwait anyone.

???
Many Years Ago and a Week Later

The hunger pangs have become too much; when a grille close to her clangs shut, she has to investigate. Maybe it's a way out of the vents, all the others are sealed and while she can see food, she can't get to it.

Her approach is still stealthy, as she slinks through the ducts her eyes light on a small ceramic dish sat just by a closed vent. From it is coming a very intriguing smell. Slowly, inch by inch, she creeps forward, takes a single mouthful... and bolts back in to the depths of the vents. But before long, her amber eyes fasten once again on the dish.

Alpha Panda Captain's Cabin
Here And Now

As her human shifts underneath her, Rogue opens one lazy eye. In the next room she can hear the radio chirruping away. She flicks an ear dismissively, and attempts to settle back in to sleep. Unfortunately, Jack has other plans and dislodges her as he rises.

Being placed unceremoniously on the bed causes Rogue to actually raise her head and track Jack's movements - in case he's planning on feeding her. When he fails to do this, she largely loses interest and curls up once more.

From the bridge she can just about hear the human speaking to the talking box.

"Prisoner? You've captured a prisoner?"

As she twists, she noticed the locket the human has left behind - open at a pair of blue eyes and a face that isn't here any more. Some uninteresting human.

She goes back to sleep.

[Space Lawyer]

Lei

"Ahaha, no, poor choice of words! They had a guy tied up, so he was a prisoner, but he isn't anymore."

[Aneurin]

Jack
Alpha Panda's bridge

Secure in the knowledge that Lei can't see him, Jack rolls his eyes.

"...right. Well, keep an eye on him. Just because they had him tied up, doesn't mean he's our friend. You know what they say, 'the enemy of my enemy may also be my enemy because he's a complete lurn shwei jah jwohn*'. So watch your back in there,"

Jack sits back against the console and rubs his eyes. For such a simple-sounding job, today is fast becoming way too much hassle. The pay had better be on the level.

Spoiler

Show

*Something Very Impolite.

[Shadow_Elf]

Greg
Lullabelle Mine Garden
His conversation with Adrian concluded*, Greg plugs into the comm chatter. Speakin' a prisoners, Cap... any o' our friendly claim jumpers give up info worth knowin'? If the Doc's done with her interrogation, I could use some patchin' up...

Spoiler

Show

*We can still have this conversation, I'm just trying to keep up with the progressing timeline.

[Creed]

Morgan
Med-Bay

Morgan sighed as Cole left the room, his pistol still trained on the men sitting nearby. He temporarily considered killing them both, on the spot. He wouldn't need this pistol, in any case. He was fast and strong enough, he knew he could kill both of them without much of a fuss before Cole returned with Jack and Sia. He could say that they attacked him...
No, he couldn't do that. If these men were going to die, he was going to have sanction from the captain to do it. He wasn't about to get left on some backwater asteroid over the bodies of a few claim-jumpers.
As his mind raced, Morgan leaned back against the wall, staring the men down, replacing his pistol in his belt and crossing his arms. As if daring them to try something.

[Narmoth]

Greg
Lullabelle Mine Garden
The ex-soldier perks up at the notion of fresh grub. Y'all need an extra set o' hands, Miss Grace, an' y'all jus' holler, he says to Grace with a smile, before approaching Adrian. Feel good t'have yer feet back on solid ground, Mister Starr? Sorry our little detour here has delayed y'all gettin' back t'civilization.

"There is no need for regrets, my good man. Civilization might have it's benefits, no doubt, but at present I am in no particular haste to return to it, so even if the return is inevitable, I will attempt to savour the journey as long as possible"

[Shadow_Elf]

Greg
Minutes Ago, Lullabelle Mine Garden
The ex-Browncoat nods. I git what're sayin'. Civilization's fine an' dandy, but it's mighty borin'. I signed up wit' the Cap'n an' 'is Panda on account a bein' bored.

[Sunfall]

Grace
Alpha Panda, Galley

Tantalizing smells begin to waft through the halls of Alpha Panda. After Ryan indicated that there wouldn't be room for all of them in the tiny mining station, Grace has invited the young man on board. After all, there still would be room for passengers, so two or three people more won't make that much of a difference for the Panda.

Whilst comparing notes with Ryan about gardening, harvesting supplies and cooking, Grace happily bangs her pots and pans about, creating yet another feast of fresh produce and fragrant herbs. "It's all in tha seasonin'", she tells Ryan and confidentially slips a small packet of seeds into his breast pocket. "You should grow some a' these, hon. They're sturdy. They'll love an environment like yours. Real soil. An' they'll liven up your cookin' some."

She doesn't assume that the prisoners will be eating with them, nevertheless she has calculated dinner for them, too. It's a habit for her, just including all souls present and probably a surprise guest or two into her margin. And she knows that on this ship, nothing will go bad today. It never has.

"So yer're all alone out 'ere with tha' Sam Hawkes fella? Two of ya really mus' be some likeable folks", she remarks off-handedly while stirring a thick stew of pumpkins and bell peppers, throwing in some smoked protein. "If ya've haven't had some in a while, this can taste just like bacon", she says with a wink and an impish smile.

There's also a casserole of squash merrily bubbling in the grease-stained oven, and a dustbin-lid-sized pan of assorted vegetables, some sour-sweet fruit and seasoned protein chunks sizzling away on the stove. Grace manages to make even the rice from the Panda's stores smell good; a few crushed leaves of laurel do the trick quite nicely...

[Adlan]

Alpha Panda, Galley

Grace and Ryan chatted in the galley as they prepared the meal.
"Well, I met Sam Houston just after the War, why, he and me have high tailed it out of every fighting and pinch we got our ownselves into along the way. He's a good miner, and we work fine together..."

"I'll be right careful with these seeds, they don't often sell good geneseed out here. Lots of fakes and off hybrids that don't breed true. I know these seeds I can trust."

A Short Time Later

The crew were gathering for dinner. Sam Hawkes, with TAP and Shooter, were coming back from loading the Cargo. They had been working the magnetic grappler and working up an appetite. Also just returning from work was Lei and her freed prisioner Amiri, who had just come back from the Mary Celestia. The Smells soon drew the rest of Alpha Panada's complement to the galley.

[Aneurin]

Jack
Alpha Panda's mess

Strolling in to the mess from the direction of the bridge, Jack wipes the back of one hand across his brow. There's a few smears of grease on his face, and the sleeves of his white shirt are rolled up. Over one shoulder, his customary waistcoat is draped carelessly and from his other shoulder Cap'n Rogue blinks at the assembling crew with lazy amber eyes.

Walking through, he nods carelessly to the others already there and rummages through the fridge for a tin of Rogue's food. He glances up as Amiri and Lei enter.

"Howdy," he says, finally locating the desired tin. "Lei, I'm sure I've told you before about bringing boyfriends back to the ship," the severity of his tone is belied by a cheerful wink.

"Welcome aboard, anyway. Name's Jack. I'm the Captain, this here is the ship's real owner, Cap'n Rogue," Jack waves a careless hand at Rogue, who graciously turns her attention away from the unopened tin to stare at Amiri for a second. "I'll introduce you to the rest when the smell of Grace's cooking lures them out of their hidey holes," he adds, opening a drawer that should contain the tin opened.

[Lentrax]

Sia
Crew quarters

Sia sits up in the bed. Cole hadn't come back to thier quarters yet, she didn't know what her teddy bear was doing.

Sia though, was looking through her old pictures. A lot of them were from worlds she had visited. Some of them weren't so pretty anymore.

Damn war. It killed more than just men.

She turned the page. more pictures. This one of a happy couple, smiling at the camera. Sia looked at the face she has only been able to dream of, the other woman in that picture, the lips on her cheek. A tear spatters on the page, leaving a spot of wetness that will fade the color of the image abit more.

Mei-Jing. My love. My light. My life. I miss you. I have done my best, I can only hope you are proud of me. But I have to try and let you go.

I know the vow says till death do us part, but I can't seem to let you go.

I will never stop loving you. I only hope he understands that...

Slamming the book shut again, Sia stuffs it back into the drawer along with her dress. The dress she keeps wanting to put in storage, but never finds the time to.

Wioing the tears from her face, Sia follows the smell of food to the galley, where she finds Jack already at the table with Grace and a few others.

Prim and proper again, Sia sits down, picks up her sticks, and starts to gather food for her plate.

[Creed]

Morgan
Med-Bay

Morgan, now sitting cross-legged on the floor with a straightened spine, could smell the savory aroma of the cooking going on in another part of the ship. He would eat later, he reasoned, once the captain gave them the go ahead to finish these prisoners off.
Or, he could just beat them senseless while everyone else was busy.
Discipline, Morgan thought to himself, the muscles in his legs tensing up. Wait for the go ahead.
He clenched his fists, then stood, looking towards the two men with squinted eyes.

[Erasmas]

Cole
Cargo Bay

After he had embarrassed himself in front of the prisoners, the big man had gone on walk-about through the Panda. He did it from time to time; if he needed to think, or to cool off. He ended up in the cargo hold and found Shooter and them finishing up, so he lended a hand in making sure the crates were all stowed snug-some.

The soldier then found himself among his workout equipment and decided to let off some steam. Time got away from him and before he knew it, his stomach rumbled. Bringing his mind back to the present, he realized what his belly was already telling him... Grace was cookin' again.

Hurriedly, he toweled off and made his way to the galley. Once there, he poked his head in the door.

"I smell somethin' fierce, so I'm gonna go make myself decent to be around folk again. But you better save me some!"

Cole disappeared from the doorway like a man on a mission, only to reappear a split-second later.

"Please...", he added as if begging for mercy. He then mouthed at Shooter... who had given him one of his looks... I mean it!

[Shadow_Elf]

Greg
Alpha Panda Mess Hall
The tactician inhales deeply as he strides into the scene. Miss Grace, y'all never fail t'impress. Is that bacon I'm smellin? he asks with a grin as he approaches the table. He takes off his hat and hangs it on a peg, and then offers to help Grace serve the food. While he carries the bowl of rice around the table, he directs conversation at the Captain. Y'all git those claim jumpin' amateurs t'talk, Cap'n? I wouldn't mind a pass at their couche 'vec vaches leader when he wakes up, if y'all still need t'know more 'bout the job. Sad thing 'bout these gloves's that it takes a while fer the target t'wake up.

French:

Spoiler

Show

"Sleeps with cows"

[Sunfall]

Grace
Alpha Panda, Mess Hall

Without even looking, Grace pulls the can opener out of a cluttered drawer and hands it to Jack. She also puts a saucer of clotted cream in front of the Captain. It's not the real thing, of course, but with some careful fermenting and skimming it comes close enough for the Captain's taste. Well, sometimes at least.

She smiles at Greg's compliment and winks at Ryan. "What did I tell ya? I'm sorry, it's jes' protein", she continues, turning to Greg. "But I promise, ya'll barely taste the diff'rence. Weeks in the Black'll do it ter ya ev'ry time." Smiling she hands him a stack of mismatched and chipped plates so that he can help set the table.

Grace herself puts down a big bowl of steamed rice on the table, squinting at Sia with a quick nervous smile. "Say, Doc, how 'bout those folks down in sick bay? Shouldn't they get somethin' ter bite, too?" She has also noticed that Cole and Morgan are missing. Big boys like them have to eat, and she is mindful of putting something aside for them, too.

[Lentrax]

Sia
Alpha Panda's Mess

"Hmm? Oh, yes. We can give them a small something later. For now, let them reap the rewards of their choices."

[Adlan]

Amiri
Alpha Panda's mess

Amiri's hand is about the only clean part of him, the scrub line where he washed up to visible on his wrists. Though it's not as noticable as the scars on his hands and the markings on his shoulder. He profers it to the Man Amiri assumed was their captain.

"Howdy, Lei, I'm sure I've told you before about bringing boyfriends back to the ship,". Amiri blushed underneath the dirt at the Captain's wink. He isn't adept at dealing with jokes and new people at the same time.

"Welcome aboard, anyway. Name's Jack. I'm the Captain, this here is the ship's real owner, Cap'n Rogue," Amiri looked down at the Cat. Cat's were lucky for ships, but the last ships cat he knew had come to a sticky end.
"I'll introduce you to the rest when the smell of Grace's cooking lures them out of their hidey holes,"

"I'm mmmmuhmuh Mighty grateful to ya'll"

Amiri's inhaled the rich aroma of cooking "Smells like Hěn hǎo chī*".

He took a seat at the long table. "If the Prisoners are the Hun Dhan's** who bought me, I'd say this smells far too good for them."

*It's very tasty
** Bastards

[Space Lawyer]

"Lei, I'm sure I've told you before about bringing boyfriends back to the ship."

他不是我的男朋友！我不做的什至不喜欢男人，以这种方式。。。

Lei pouts for a bit, then perks up. "Look what I found over on the other ship!" She reaches into her bag and pulls out a beat up looking black box. "It's a field generator. If I can fix it up, it should keep a bit of the ship safer from all the radiation flying around out int he black."

[Erasmas]

Cole
Alpha Panda's Mess

Before too long, Cole came running through the doorway, his fresh t-shirt sticking to his still-wet skin in a few places. Despite this, his hair seemed to already be dry... though that was the benefit of keeping it so short. His boot laces were still undone and the tops of them flopped as he ran like a set of hounddogs' ears. The soldier all but launched himself into his chair, grabbing the table to right himself from tipping over. He took long enough to smile at Sia, and then dug in (as politely as he could manage). As typical, he took a little more than really should've been his portion... but it certainly wasn't on purpose.

"What'd I miss?"

[Aneurin]

Jack
Alpha Panda's mess

Jack gratefully takes the can opener from Grace as Rogue takes a flying leap from his shoulder to the 'cream', and sets to opening a tin of... something similar to meat. Well, sort of. Ignoring Rogue's insistent twining around his ankles, he scrapes the food out in to a dish.

"Sounds good to me, Lei. I always appreciate not frying due to radiation; it may sound sort of fun, but it really, really isn't," Jack places the dish on the deck to Rogue's undeniable joy. Taking his place at the table, he drapes the waistcoat over the back of his chair and starts loading his plate.

"Well, as it seems all the gang's here, might as well do some introductions. Have you ever heard it said that a crew's a family? Well, this is ours. I'm the dad, Doc Sia here's the mom - she'll patch us up when we trip and fall. Cole and Morgan are the overprotective uncles. Shooter's the country cousin, Greg's the chatty brother. Lei's the little sister, always prepared to pull hair and pinch toys. Cap'n Rogue owns the ship and ranks somewhere above God. Grace is the kindly aunty and the best cook this side of... well... anywhere. Adrian's baby brother, he only joined the other day, while Tap over there's the boy genius who keeps us in the air.

Speaking of, actually. Think you can have a look at the alarm system in a bit, Tap? It's not working right, and I can't figure out why. Connections in the bridge seem pretty good,"

Jack smiles faintly as he observes the crew's response to his introductions. He figures there ought to be some pretty good ones.

[Shadow_Elf]

Greg
Alpha Panda Mess
Greg laughs at the introduction. Bein' chatty's what pays my keep on this bird, Cap'n, he says half-jokingly.

[Adlan]

Amiri
Alpha Panda's Galley

"I Gehgehgrew up on a ship Sir, Way I knows it is a good crew is a family."

Amiri ate with gusto when the meal began, he was right in what he said were his thoughts, the food was better than he or his captors had eaten on the Mary Celestia.

"My Name is Amiri, I'm a Ships Mechanic, got my papers and sssssssso forth on Persephone. I got stuck on Higgins moon, weren't finding much work, but I was in the wrong bar at the wrong time, got myself booked with the local Magistrate instead of fed trouble." He took a bite of near bacon and rice, chewed and swallowed.
"2 weeks Indentured to the town, and he sold me on Day 13. I woke up on the other ship, and I've been stuck there since."

[Erasmas]

Cole

"Juyin goh bi dilao... I oughta get the name'a that town; make sure I don't ever find myself there!"

Cole took a clump of rice between his chopsticks and moved it around in the leftover sauce from the vegetables. Once the clump had all fallen apart, the big man picked up his plate and "drank" from the side of it, using the chopsticks to get every grain into his mouth. Afterward, he set it back down and wiped his chin with a napkin and reclined back in his chair. He studied Amiri as he talked, and then replied thoughtfully.

"Y'know... my distant cousin, Clayton had a stutter too... and it weren't nothin ta be ashamed of neither. No sir-ee... he talked like 'at right up until the family mule kicked him in the head."

[Lentrax]

Sia
Alpha Panda Mess

"Higgin's Moon... I've been there before. It was not long after the war ended. Met a man there, talked about some kind of curse. I probably wouldn't blame him for talk like that, if it's like you say."