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Post by The Tired God on Apr 29, 2014 23:05:07 GMT -5
Dead bodies had them going into dark space, the area between solar systems, to recover those lost to the greed and downright evil of one Captain Anders. From there, they narrowly escaped a hail of asteroids, and dealt with a parasitic life form hellbent on nesting inside Finn's stomach. Then there was the sting, which briefly went wrong as Anders took poor Finn hostage as a living shield, but like any rushed plan, it was doomed to fail.
Sitting pretty with the cash from completion, as well as the reward for Anders' apprehension, the Paragon's crew was left with just a few things to do. Rest, relax, and find a new job. They were currently on Ferrum, a massive industrial world responsible for the production of nearly all of the galaxy's metalworkings these days. Plenty of shops roamed the Argent Walks, and down below the Wound was populated with a number of seedy individuals. Up on high were the Aureus Heights, full of the rich and successful. White gloved individuals better suited for a desk job than working in the dirt like so many others.
They had a great deal many of options. Plenty of directions to go. Just where might they head? Perhaps speak with the merchants to find some cargo to transport. Maybe souls to ferry across dark space who might want to avoid public transportation. Perhaps they could swallow their morals and take up something darker in the Wound, or swallow their pride and kiss the ass of those in the Heights.
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Post by Cate Baxter on Apr 30, 2014 14:22:47 GMT -5
Cate sighed as the cops escorted away Captain Anders and left the crew of the Paragon alone on the Walks. "Well, guess I'm already out here. Should be good for a few more hours too. Anyone got anythin' they'd like to do with yours truly before I head back to check on my baby?" She grinned at each member in turn, it was a rare offer to be free to do something with Cate outside of her nest within the cockpit.
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Post by Dominica Garza on Apr 30, 2014 14:59:52 GMT -5
With a smile and pat on the shoulder Dom shook her head. "Thanks but I got somewhere to be. Just remember to shout if something bad happens. I'm heading down below for a little while. Have someone I gotta see." With a little nod to the rest of the crew she leaves and heads through the crowded market place. "Ooh! Zaxitos!" She pops her credit through the vending machine and a cannister of the popular snack chip pops out. She munches on the spicy treat as she enters the elevator.
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Post by Silas Sedgewick on Apr 30, 2014 16:28:26 GMT -5
Silas shrugged casually at the offer, and shook her head rather slowly. "Wish I could, but I should be following in Dom's footsteps and wrapping up my business down below as quickly as I can. Keani and I still have things to do, and I don't want to leave her waiting," she grinned. "If anyone needs me, just give me a holler," she offered, tapping her communicator as she made her way to the elevators as well, quickly disappearing into the crowds.
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Post by Keani Evans-Pritchard on May 1, 2014 14:20:10 GMT -5
Keani watched as Dom and the Narid tech ducked into the crowds, turning her attention back to the remaining crew. "Mostly it's just browsing the Walks killing time until Silas is back, right?" she offered, looking to Cate. "I mean, unless you and Finn are are heading somewhere else too. And aside from the Walks or heading back to the ship, it's not like there's too many other places to be. I don't think I'm tough enough for downstairs."
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Post by Glendan Finnigan on May 1, 2014 23:25:48 GMT -5
Finn looked to Cate and shrugged a bit as the cop's moved away. "I ain' go' anythin' planned, no. No' unless ye wan' to go fin' tha' diner." he says, before looking to Keani. "Yer welcome to join us as well, 'til Silas get's back. Show ya where me an' Cate started shoppin' fer the Paragon."
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Post by Dominica Garza on May 2, 2014 12:25:35 GMT -5
The elevator hummed quietly as it descended. Slowly it emptied of people as it went lower and lower until there were only a couple of shady character lefts with Dom. She exited when they reached the bottom and she cut through the groups of less than reputable dealers before she stopped at a long-range communications kiosk. She entered the small room and locked the door behind herself. After checking the input for skimmers she wrote a letter.
((Translated from Spanish) Grandma and Grandpa; Things have been going well on the Paragon. We just finished another job that paid quite well. I recently found a kitten who I took on board of the ship and he's taken a liking to it. Please give my love to the rest of the family. Dominica.
She then attached a transfer of about a quarter of her newly acquired funds to the transmission and sent it off. Then she left the kiosk and went back out into the streets with a clear purpose in mind. She kept a wary view around herself as she ducked down an alley and then another. She wound her way past the trash and the homeless until she came out another street. Just a few buildings down stood a simple cinder block building with a cross painted on the wall. She ducked inside and looked around the small lobby. She walked toward the empty front desk when a voice called out from the side room.
"Dominica! Welcome back!" An older man, dark skinned and thin shuffled from the room and held out a hand to the tall woman. She smiled and shook his hand. "Hello Father Estevez. It's good to see you again. I can't stay long but I came by to make a donation."
The priest smiled and shook her hand some more before finally letting her go. "You know that anything we can get will help the children so much. Thank you my dear!" They went to the desk and Dom transferred a rather large amount to the orphanage and the priest shook her hand again.
"Auntie Garza! Auntie Garza!" Two young girls came running into the room and each grabbed onto a leg and hugged Dom. She laughed and ruffled their hair. "I have something for the both of you." She grinned as she opened her pack and pulled out the two anime toys she brought back with her. She handed one to each girl who thanked her and promptly played started playing out a battle scene and chased each other out of the room.
"I'm not sure the next time I'll be back, Father, but hopefully I can bring you a little more next time." A slight blush crossed her cheeks and she smiled.
"Every little bit helps, my dear. We're always glad to see you." With that they exchanged their goodbyes and Dom started to make her way back to the surface. The Catholic church wasn't what it once was and Dom wasn't really a believer. But her grandparents were and tradition was still a big deal in the family. With a smile on her face she hit the button and waited for the elevator to bring her back up.
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Post by Silas Sedgewick on May 7, 2014 12:17:02 GMT -5
The moment she was out of sight, her usual grin melted away into a serious glower. While normally in control of her emotions, Silas loathed this part of the trip. The dance that never stopped. She was dancing with the Devil, and after three years of it, she felt too tired to continue.
You never deny the Devil his dance.
As she lowered into the wound, her elevator empty but for herself thanks to that unapproachable look she gave out, she idly checked her gear. Her guns, her boot-knife, her concealed gun, the collar to her coat (to make sure it was popped). She even brushed her fingers over her scar, as if to make sure it too was there, nails briefly coming into contact with her eye, a gesture that would have hurt anyone but her. False eyes rarely flinched.
Taking the stairs the rest of the way, Silas eventually found herself on the Wound's floor, feet hitting the dirt and mud with purpose. She stepped through the crowds and took each turn like she had rehearsed the route, prepared for this adventure from the very start.
At the end of her path was a brick building, red like fire and free from graffiti, despite every other building in the area. A Narid stood at the front door, its large eyes studying Silas as she approached. "<This one is here for Red God,>" she said, speaking in the native clicks and throaty hums of the Narid, a language most humans had a very hard time with. Still possible to learn, but very difficult. Especially difficult considering that the Narid did not use pronouns, making it a challenge for humans to often understand who or what they were referring to. Narid never had to clarify with each other, simply knowing what the other meant. Humans certainly added a degree of difficulty to the mix.
"<Know face,>" replied the Narid. "<Know drill.>" Used to speaking to humans, the Narid struggled to gesture to himself as he spoke, symbolizing that he was referring to himself, then to Silas to show he meant her. It was a difficult habit that many Narid, even after being around humans for years and their culture adapting to that, had a great deal of trouble with.
Silas shrugged to herself and began to undress, removing her coat and holsters. She kicked off her boots and frowned at the dirt getting all over the bottoms of her socks. Just as she began to walk through the entryway, the Narid held his arm out to stop her. "<The gun,>" he clicked, his voice sounding more like a snarl with the hissed words. Silas conceded and removed her concealed pistol, offering it up to him before he would let her enter.
The inside of the building was empty. In fact the entire room was blank but for a small ring drawn on the ground. Silas stepped into the center, and the white walls began to flash, all shifting in colour into a very dark black.
Time seemed to stand still before the walls shifted colour again and light returned to the room. A silent elevator had taken her down to the basement level, bringing her to an office with a man staring at Silas from his desk. He was drinking some sort of liquor with ice in his glass, and was dressed in a finely tailored suit. "You're late," he grumbled, clearly displeased.
"I don't make the schedule," replied the gunslinger. "I wanted to come sooner, but work has been pretty thin, and I--" she continued, only to be interrupted by the man waving his hand.
"We had a deal, miss Sedgewick. A contract. You're not trying to bleed yourself out of fulfilling your end of the bargain, are you?" he asked, eyes narrowing as he leaned forward in his seat.
"No," she said quickly, reaching into her pocket to remove a card. She leaned in to take a step forward, but the card was snatched out of her hand before she even thought about moving, the plastic thing floating through the air with the aid of some very advanced and intense psychic abilities.
"Five," he said after a long pause, having swiped the card through a terminal slot before floating it back to the woman.
"Thousand?" She sounded hopeful.
"Hundred thousand." He crushed her spirits.
"I'll never--" she started.
"Dry cleaning isn't cheap, miss Sedgewick. Don't forget all that I have done for you. Perhaps you should see about finding a line of work that is more . . . rewarding?"
She didn't offer a reply. Card in hand and bank account drained to nearly the very last cent, Silas hung her head and sought to control her temper. The walls flashed into darkness again, and after a few moments the light returned, and she was all alone in the room.
---
"Cate?" she asked over her personal phone, her voice quite chipper and a little hard to make out with all the noise in the Walks. "Where are you beautiful people?"
Once given the address, she quickly made her way towards Parker's, smiling all the way.
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Post by The Tired God on May 7, 2014 12:20:11 GMT -5
Parker's was setup like the diners of yore, looking much like a medieval mead hall to those that might have lived around the time that diners were still a thing in comparison. A long counter separated swivel chairs, all coloured red with some sort of leather material, and booths on one side of the room, with an open kitchen on the other side.
It was staffed by four, two black twins, one who moved faster than was necessary, and the other who calmly went about her tasks. A woman in her sixties ran the counter, refilling a man's cup of coffee for likely the sixth time for how long Keani, Cate, and Finn had been there.
The trio had their food, and were discussing various things that Keani tried to keep up with. Tech stuff, really.
By the time Silas and Dominica made it there, the three were already halfway through their meals.
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Post by Dominica Garza on May 7, 2014 16:02:46 GMT -5
The ringer on the door chimed as Dom entered the diner. A wide smile on her face as she approached the table. She waved to the passing waitress as she sat down. "Ham sandwich, apple pie and coffee please." She looked around at the other three. "Hey guys. I miss anything interesting?"
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Post by Silas Sedgewick on May 7, 2014 16:05:07 GMT -5
Silas followed in shortly after Dom, smiling to herself as she took a seat on one of the stools. The booth had enough room for four to sit comfortably, so she just took the stool across the way from the booth to still be able to talk to people, her back turned to the counter.
"Get into any trouble while we were gone?"
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Post by Glendan Finnigan on May 7, 2014 16:12:48 GMT -5
Finn looks up as Silas and Dom arrived, then shifted over in his seat, making room for the two. He nods to them, then lifts on of his curly fries, opting to cut in before the heathen's could have their way.
"'eya you two. Don' listen to these two, th' curly fries are the bes' 'ere." he says, nodding.
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Post by Keani Evans-Pritchard on May 7, 2014 17:07:27 GMT -5
Keani gets caught shoveling down a mixture of meatloaf, waffle fries with God knows what added to it, gravy and mashed potaties. And apparently all slathered in ketchup, pepper and some sort of mysterious hot sauce. The fork isn't even out of her mouth as she turns to glance up at Dom and Silas, offering a half-wave of her fingers from her free hand. She shakes her head, wolfing down what's in her mouth before beginning to speak.
"No, it's been pretty quiet so far. And hush, Finn. Yours are good, but Cate's are better. Now if you could somehow make curly waffle fries instead..."
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Post by Cate Baxter on May 7, 2014 23:45:48 GMT -5
Cate was in the middle of speaking when Dom walked into the diner, "--til th' accident. Then I went off to the city. Oh! Heya Dom. Grab a seat and tell Keeni here she's wastin' good food by turnin' it into space goop." She grinned up to the taller woman, it was clear that her ribbing at Keani was mostly in jest, and that she was trying to pull Dom into an existing argument. Though that didn't make her any worse than Finn's attempts to recruit her and a just arrived Silas to the curly fry cause.
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Post by Dominica Garza on May 8, 2014 12:12:20 GMT -5
"We get enough space goop in space. If I'm planetside I'm getting some real food." Dom leaned back a little bit and grinned. "And curly fries are the best fries. What kind of heathen prefers waffle fries?" She laughed and leaned forward again. "Some nice crispy curly fries with just the right amount of dangle." She then shouts across the room. "I want some curly fries too please!"
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