Errands for the Hearst (Serenity)

[King Tius]

Weapons are drawn and jabberwockies are....wocked. Marshall gives the slip of paper a look and starts ticking off numbers in his head. Looking up briefly at the lockers around him, he comes to a small revelation: all the lockers are given in three digit numbers. Even the first locker was labeled 001. With this in mind, he quickly eliminates the smaller numbers to be locker numbers. Staring at the 108 for another minute, he finally spins the paper 180 degrees and cracks a grin. "801, must be" he mutters.

No security activity is evident (and there are no security cameras). Whether nobody noticed, there was no alarm, or the Doc's Jabberwocky worked is unclear. A glance at your multibands reveals that you have 32 minutes of this little exercise left.

Stealing quickly to Locker #801 you try and input the code, finding once again that the locker will not open. Before Faith busts out her hacker you think to try the code upside-down. Sure enough, a green light blips on and the door rattles up. As the gate opens the place initially looks empty again. Once it has fully risen you see that this is not entirely the case (lolz). Sitting in the dead center of the little locker is a briefcase sized metal container, complete with a fancy handle and big locks. Also in the room, on a small pedestal up against the rear wall is a mighty fancy gun, rivaling Vera in its design and quality.

[Zoobity]

Gerard

Gerard follows the group to #801. As the case comes into view he says,"Called it. Let's grab this stuff and get out of here." He looks at the fancy weapon for a second, "Maybe we could take that along, too. I'm sure it would fetch us a few credits."

He looks eager to get out of there.

[MaximusMeridius]

Marshall is proud of his puzzle solving coming into play again, and making the difference. When the door raises, he peers into the room and examines its contents. Upon Gerard’s desire for the gun as well, Marshall says, “He said to grab the case and be careful of it. Something about it being fragile. Nothing about any gun. If we do take the gun, then what is to say that we won’t get a chance off of this rock with a job?” He waits for a response. If there is none, or the group seems too eager to take it with them, then he at least cautions them to take their time with both and not set off any other alarms. He also hopes to himself that this group of rag-tag people aren’t a bunch of heartless thieves.

[Loquacius]

The revelation that the code and locker number were just upside down appears to cause Ernie physical pain. "WHAT. Jesus, Buddha, an' Vishnu, strike me down where I friggin' stand. Was that even a TRICK? I don't know what to think anymore. I need a nap. I'm an old man and I can only take so much blind seething rage in one day."

Regarding the unexpected gun surprise: "We are leaving that weapon here. There has to have been more of a trick than an upside-down code. That could have just as easily been a problem on our end as it could have been a tricky ploy to test our problem-solving capabilities. In other words I'm expecting more tricks. Our mission is to get the case, not to get the case and also a gun which has been put nicely on display for some reason. Why is it so prominently displayed, I wonder? Someone must have wanted to make sure we notice it. The gun stays here."

OOG: I'm reminded of a short story from Sin City entitled "Fat Man and Little Boy."

[Ridai]

Faith is a bit ashamed that her actions could have prevented everyone to get the job. When the door fully opens, she puts her gun away, quickly goes in and examines the case. If it seems to be safe to pick up, she does so carefully, not interested in the gun in the back. She then gives it towards Marshall, a bit like a gift, before Faith exits the room and waves to the others to get going, doing so when the others are ready.

[Zoobity]

Gerard

Gerard sighs. "Yeah, getting this job is more important than one bargain on that gun. Let's get the hell out of here. How long do we have?"

[Odin the Ignoble]

Burt steps up to the locker and grabs the gun inside. "We bring the gun, If we weren't supposed to I'll take the heat. You can say it was my idea. If I'm wrong, I can always return it."

[Loquacius]

Ernie blinks repeatedly. "That's a terrible idea. It's obviously bait. It's on a gorram pedestal, for cryin' out loud. Well, it's your funeral. Just hide it somewhere, and if it comes up later, we all get to act surprised that you've got it. Deal?"

[King Tius]

30 minutes and counting...

The case does not seem booby-trapped or bugged and Faith hands it to Marshall without incident. Burt moves towards the gun and, without checking it for any type of tricks, picks it up. As he lifts the gun he feels the slightest of resistance as a small cord is pulled taught and is released in the back of the gun. He immediately notices upon lifting the assault rifle that it is way too light to be a functional gun. With a small puff the side of the gun pops open and sprays a fine red mist all over Burt. Sputtering and coughing the cyborg stumbles backwards flailing his hands in front of his face. It takes a second for him to realize that he hasn't been burned or poisoned and is, instead, now a shade of bright red (at least his upper half).

With case in hand and "red" in tow, the group hustles back to the Barchetta. The door to the cargo bay is open and you find Anders within. He is still dressed like a punk delivery boy but he has a clipboard in his hands and is all-business in his demeanor as he checks his cargo. He turns to the group with a serious look on his face and checks his watch. "Ten minutes to spare, nice work." He glances at Burt and cracks a smile and holds out his hand. "Give me the case and tell me what happened."

[Ridai]

Faith looks to the others with a face signaling she doesn't really know what kind of reaction would be appropiate now, so she just shrugs after Burt got himself a fresh layer of color.

Back at the Barchetta, she lets the others to the talking (obviously).

[Odin the Ignoble]

"Everything went fine. Smooth as silk." Burt pauses, shifting his weight to this good foot. "Err, that is except for a minor complication. You mind directing me to the nearest lavatory? "

[King Tius]

Anders gives Burt a hard stare and says "you can wash up once we're off this rock." He takes the case from Marshall and fiddles with the locks. Finally popping the case open, he peaks inside before placing the case on the nearest cargo-seat. Flipping it around deftly and cracking it open, you see that the case is padded and contains what appear to be high-end multibands. As Anders motions to them, he says "Blue Sun's finest. Multiband and ship-linked handset in one. Jumpsuits are located in your bunks and must be worn on all "official" (he makes the quotes with his hands) jobs. Two sets of you are going to have to bunk up. Take off in 20 minutes." He looks to the new pilot and nods before turning and exiting the cargo bay.

[Yawielas]

Robyn smirks a little at Burt, then looks at the others to find a bunk mate.

[Ridai]

Faith takes one of the Multibands and starts to explore the different OS for the functions she needs, including looking for a voice synthesizer that can be linked to the communication channels.

She is fine with however the bunks end up being distributed, as she is sure that they will be leaps and bounds better than living in dirty cages or cells like an animal.

[Zoobity]

OOG: Happy New Year
Gerard

Gerard picks up his multiband and fiddles with it briefly, enough that he can navigate his way around its functions. Before Anders disappears Gerard asks, "So what's this next job that we're going on? I'd like to have some idea of where we're going before we head out into the black."

When it comes time to choose bunkmates he gets a hold of Marshall, "Hey, Marshall. You seem clean and, hmm... civilized. Wanna take one for the team and share one of the crew quarters?"

[King Tius]

OOG: Where the flip is everyone? Is it the holidays or have people dropped out?

[Yawielas]

(It's the Holidays, I think.)

Robyn picks up a multiband, and goes to find a cabin. She wasn't too thrilled about the jumpsuits, but work was work.

[MaximusMeridius]

Marshall raises an eyebrow at the quotation fingers. "So how 'official' are these missions going to be?" He mimics the incantation of Ander's voice, but doesn't do the hand gestures. He also asks, "Also, what happens if we choose to wear our own attire for these 'official' missions?" His tone, while questioning, doesn't provide enough of an indication to Anders that there will be a problem with the change of attire.

[Loquacius]

OOG: Sorry about my recent absenteeism, I've just been going through a lot of personal stuff lately. Won't happen again.

Way back at the storage site, as Crunch is painted: "Tsk. That'll learn ya to mind your elders, son. Well, done's done, hope we don't get sacked over this."

Back at the port, in response to Anders's questions: "Minor slipup or two, nothin' we couldn't handle. Storage company might have gotten a red flag, but as you can see it wasn't a problem 'til we were long gone. Please tell me we'll never go in that blind again, though, or I ain't never leavin' my clinic." Pause. "Ship like this's got a clinic, right? Medroom of some sort? All I got's my itty doctor bag. It's fine, but it only does so much."

Reluctantly putting away his fancy expensive-looking multiband in favor of the work-supplied one, Ernie just barely remembers to turn the Jabberwocky off before hearing about the bunk-sharing situation. His ears perk up and his eyes somehow dart toward every woman present at once. He chuckles for a second and opens his mouth to speak, but catches himself at the last minute. Wanna lose THIS job too, old man? "I'd, ah, probably take a room of my own. Don't want you youngsters keeping me up at all hours and, y'know, an old man needs his solitude sometimes." Brief pause before he is unable to keep himself from adding, "But if one of you young ladies should WANT to keep me up once or twice I'm not complaining!" He immediately winces. Wow, nice one. Hopefully I can at least end up being "eccentric" rather than "dangerous."

[Odin the Ignoble]

"Shiny" Burt walks over to the case and makes to reach for one of the multi-bands. He stops himself, and does his best to clean his hands off before reaching garbing one of the multibands.

"If'n I might make a suggestion? The girls might want to bunk together, it's been my experience that co-ed bunks can lead to all sorts of trouble. Sides," Burt spares a glance at Ernie. "there's safety in numbers."

[King Tius]

Anders stops and turns back to you, a mischeiveous look creeping onto his face. "You only need to wear the jumpsuits when we need to look like Blue Sun. As for our first job, it's on one of the Rim moons, though I can't remember the name off the top of my head (I am at a ski resort away from my books, that's really why). If you can't handle wearing them, find another boat."

Melody, who had been keeping up with the group but keeping to herself, finally speaks up. "I can't handle this, I'm sorry. I think I'll just grab my stuff and go. Real sorry." She picks up her duffel bag and walks sheepishly out of the cargo bay.

Anders throws his hands up into the air, tossing his clipboard and scattering papers. "Gorramit! There goes my pilot! We need one ASAP and I'm not allowed to fly off this rock till we have a dedicated throttle jockey. Some of you must have connections around here, go find us a pilot! And hurry! We've got the appearance of a schedule to keep!"

[Odin the Ignoble]

Burt makes a move towards the door before realizing that he is still covered in paint. He makes a quick stop in the bathroom to get the worst of it out and switches to a clean shirt, before heading back out to he hold to see if anyone else has managed to get a line on another pilot on short notice.

[Loquacius]

OOG: Lucky for us Ernie has friends... in low places!

Ernie is disappointed he's just lost some of his eye candy, but not a whole lot. That girl wasn't his type anyway. Too shy; shy means boring. Give him a girl with some spunk any day of the week! He rubs his chin at the crew's present conundrum. "I know a guy who might be able to recommend someone for us. S'how I found out about this job, actually. A little on the shady side, but I'm guessin' that ain't a problem."

OOG: So, if I use my asset here, how many Plot Points would getting a recommendation for a serviceable NPC (or PC, I guess, if someone can find someone) pilot run me? I'm thinking anywhere between 1 and 4.

[King Tius]

Apperantly we have a spectator who wants in as pilot! More to come

[King Tius]

OOG: It'll cost you two point, sound fair?

Doc knows just where to find his less than reputable contact and heads to the a local watering hole with a less than excellent reputation. Heading inside you are met with the smell of stale beer and glances from all manners of ugly people. O'Toole talks to the bartender and disappears into a back room, leaving everyone else alone.

What do you do?

[Loquacius]

OOG: It's a deal! I have no idea how friendly to Ernie / dangerous in general to make this underworld contact, so I'll keep it neutral, but you're the GM so it's your call in the end. If the guy's personality dictates that I should be acting with more caution/genuflecting constantly/whatever else, just let me know and I'll edit.

Doc Ernie snatches a beer off a barmaid's serving-tray, smacks her quickly on the rump, and is led around to the back room of the tavern's proprietor before she can protest.

He's less nervous than you might think. He's had a lifetime of dealing with big-shots, as well as medium-shots like this guy, sad little kings of sad little hills--both before and after he went underground. Shady medium-shots are really no different from their legitimate counterparts: insecure in their position, ambitious for a higher one, paranoid, quick to lash out. Easy to manipulate if you can see the strings, though. Ernie has the good fortune to be a quintessentially simple man, unconcerned with power-games -- keep him stimulated intellectually with a steady stream of sick or injured people, and stimulated in more base fashion with a similar stream of booze and money-starved women, and he's carefree and on top of the world -- but he's been around long enough to know game-players, and how to play them against themselves. He keeps his cool, and a mischievous grin on his face: no one expects any less from Joo Bah Jeh, the Leprechaun.

"Sir. Top of the evenin'. Hope you don't mind that I helped myself to a little refreshment; apparently that job you pointed me at involves runnin'. Interview went okay, such as it was, but obviously since I'm back in your bar there's been a snag and I need another favor. Get this--ain't nobody flyin' the ship. Oh, a pilot showed up--nice young girl, delicate little flower, CLEARLY out of her league. Buggered off soon an' left us in the lurch." Ernie sets down his beer and leans forward. "So I've got a proposition. A man of your stature must know a serviceable pilot who's between jobs and trapped on this rock. My new employer works, as I'm sure you're aware, for the great Blue Sun corporation. He's in charge of a ship despite his frankly unbelievable youth, which means he's connected, and right now he's stuck in North Ridge--unless you come to the rescue. You give me the name of a pilot, and I'll see to it that his bosses hear yours. I'm sure you can see the value in that concept--I know they don't have local boys in North Ridge, or I'd have met 'em today. They need something done around here, you know who they'd call. Opportunity knocks, my friend."

[Ridai]

Faith does not really care about Ernie's comment, as the 'Verse is filled with scum of all sorts anyway (Ezra for example) and the young woman already built a tolerance.

She is not really thrilled when she sees where Ernie's contact can be found at, already seeing the rumors coming towards her like a freight train in full motion. She sighs and takes a pill against the cronic pain, now amplified by the oncoming situation. Inside, she mainly tries to look somewhat innocuous, but stays alert, just in case things go south for whatever reasons.

[Zoobity]

Gerard

Gerard drops his stuff off in one of the bunks and wanders the ship to get used to his surroundings and kill some time while Ernie tries to find another pilot. If he stumbles upon any of the others while he's walking he'll stop them and ask, "So, what do you think of this boat?"

[King Tius]

Ok where the hell is everyone? I've got three dedicated posters and a bunch of flakes, it seems like. I wanted this game to be much faster paced but I don't feel comfortable updating on important events until everyone has checked in. If I don't get enough posts by tomorrow evening I will start NPCing the absent characters and rapidly killing them off. Nobody has told me of any extended absences or anything like that. If need be I'll open a new recruiting thread and get some more frequent posters in here.

[Yawielas]

(Sorry, I thought we were waiting for a pilot.)

Robyn finds herself an empty cabin, figuring she'll have to share with Faith since they're the only two women aboard now. Frownin' slightly, rememberin' the rumours about Fait, she ponders the safety of that arrangement, but drops her stuff on one of the bunks and starts unpackin'.