Compensations and Considerations

[Ilana Logan]

Marina Kseniya Sebastian


”I’m sorry to hear it.” So Longstreet said. ”I can see what I can do about getting you a replacement if you’d like.” 

And just like that, Rina could feel the Universe turn and her fortune change.  Hope blazed through her, even as caution tried to temper it.  She stared, unable to stop herself, and finally managed to drop her gaze to the carpet. She looked up and said, her voice going thin, "Thank you."

[Bishop Morse]

Dannie Shutter


Dash had listened closely to the exchange in converse, while his eyes lay fixed on the imprisoned flame. He started to get hot and he unbuttoned the top of his shirt with his slumped right hand that rose slowly to the occasion. His bulky brown coat started to stick to the dark green leather as he made little movement during his comfort, the mention of money had made his head turn slightly and the thought of payment was just as powerful as filling his belly.  

The talk about a prosthetic arm, mechanical for that matter, also caught his attention causing his head to turn towards Marcus and his eyes to look towards his right leg. His torn body was riddled with faint scars from his past but nothing was more poignant than his war wound from Du-Khang. Dash was now a rolling stone, and needed to find accommodation and a paying job, and the opportunity had cropped up. Given his time spent on the Hard Track the group of people had sat easy on Dash’s mind, he sensed that these people had their problems and he didn’t feel the need to pry. In fact he had been rather secluded himself in the black.

Dash pulled his hat from his boot and placed it on top of his head, as Marcus’s eyes looked around the room the decision was not a hard one to make. He lifted himself off the dark green leather and stood tall to get the blood flowing, he flapped his coat to get some air flaw too. “Well-” Dash bent down to pick up the vase and moved it and the table back to its original stance, “Can’t say you steered me wrong yet friend.” He looked to Longstreet and then back to Marcus as he moved around the fire place, “I’d be happy to stay aboard..” He walked to a large painting and paused slightly to admire it as he answered “As long as there’s warm food, a bed and some spendings, guess I could call you Skip.” Dash stood where he paused “I am one for voicing my opinions though.” Suddenly Rina mentioned something which distracted Dash’s viewing pleasure, it also spooked him slightly.  
    
“Now don’t get me wrong lady but I don’t wanna believe in no Reavers.” He was now gesturing with his palm opened outwards pointed towards Rina “That there is talk for the shell shocked and conspirators” bemused at what he had heard he turned to Marcus and Longstreet “Am I right?”

[Ilana Logan]

Marina Kseniya Sebastian


Dash’s words were a hard slap across her face.  Outrage engulfed her and for a second, Rina didn’t know if she’d tear into him with her remaining bare hand or vomit on the spot.  She clamped her jaw shut on everything boiling up from her gut and managed a breath … then two, then three.   

“A man’s entitled to his opinion,” she said tightly, rising from her chair and facing him, eyes blazing. Damned if she’d trade on her injury but she wasn’t going to take the insult lying down.  She shifted her gaze to Marcus and Longstreet and modulated her expression. “The truth points to itself, no matter what he thinks.”

[Bishop Morse]

Dannie Shutter


Dash realised that he might have offended the woman, it wasn’t his aim, but those words were like a shock to the system. Longstreet and Marcus didn’t seem too pleased by his outburst and he felt eyes come down on him as if to say ‘are you really that ignorant’. His views of Reaver’s were based from old tales, and stories from the hospital, where he met quite a few shell shocked soldiers was the main reason for stereotyping a Reaver beliver. The slight silence broken by the sharp comment made by Rina caused Dash to think, he frowned and looked down as the cogs worked. 

“My apologies..... Decapitation don’t sit right with me.” Dash nodded in order to agree and parked a seat on the arm of another chair, he agreed to keep savvy with the rest of the crew, but deep down he needed to see it in order to believe it.     

[Marcus O'Terra]

Marcus was thankful for Rina's words, they brought out a question he'd been wondering himself. If he was tied to Longstreet that would be his weight to carry. But anyone else should have an out. Just to be safe. He nodded to her and looked back at Longstreet.

"That's one..."

Then Dash spoke, and Rina gave her stern reply. Marcus turned to Dash. "Dash, I was at Za-Za during the attack... culling would be a better word. They were reavers. Likely a fleet of them given the sound from the skies." He didn't care if Dash believed him, this wasn't the place for debates."That's a worry I'd wish the Alliance would stick their nose and their over sized cannons into." He exhaled a long breath. "Save us all a heap of trouble." He noted the man's affirmation to joining the group though. The rest didn't object, and Marcus wasn't going to press for more time. 

"Well, Colonel Longstreet." He said turning to the man behind the desk, who had been more the patient during this whole discussion. "I believe you found a... set of individuals willing to do what needs doing. So-"

He held out his hand, palm slightly turned upward. "Have we reached an accord?"

[Ilana Logan]

Marina Kseniya Sebastian


Rina glanced at Cassia, noting the young woman hadn’t spoken for herself one way or the other.  Without affirming where she stood with Marcus, Cassia left herself free to walk if she chose and being able-bodied, she would have more options than Rina herself had. Rina quickly put her eyes front and center again, not wanting to call attention to Cassia’s silence.  With luck, no one else in the room had noticed or would think it odd.  Still, Rina would have liked to have known what was going through Cassia’s mind over the events unfolding before her.






<tag: everybody else>

[Bishop Morse]

Longstreet


Longstreet held his hand up, as if to tell Marcus to stop. There was more he had to say, or show, which was more appropriate. He wasn’t planning on letting these people sign on to something, while holding something over there heads, or try to hide it from him. ”Before you make a fully committed decision” He said pulling his hand back down. He placed it on the smart paper, and moved it over near the center screen on his desk. ”I think you should be aware of something.” He hit the screen and moved his finger on it. Then he stopped and pulled the paper away.

He looked down at it a moment, then moved some things on it. ”I want you to understand, I know who you are.” He said. He then lifted up the smart paper. On it there was two listings. They were warrants, and bounty listings. On the smart paper were the images of two of the people who were in that room. The data regarding it was substantial and detailed, and described the crimes and events they were accused of. ”The circumstances aren’t a particularly large concern for me, but I want you to be aware that I know who you are.” He said keep the smart paper up and holding it forward in case they wanted to take a look at it.

[Marcus O'Terra]

Dannie Shutter

Dash had also noticed how quiet Cassia was as he looked up from expensive looking floor, when Longstreet started to talk he lifted himself off the arm of the chair and walked closer to the desk. As he watched the flickering details repeat on a loop, he met the chair that Marcus was sat on and he placed his left hand on the large headrest. He stood in between the two deep black leather seats reading the smart paper slowly, and then Longstreet moved his hand closer so that Dash and the rest of the group could see. He then leaned back as he finished reading. 

During Dash’s childhood he never really had much schooling and his reading suffered for it, as too did his writing. His parents were not the cause in fact it was his rebellious years as a youth which lead to his poor academia. His father however wanted the best of everything for his only son.


His voice became low and grizzly “Ahh, well ya can’t blame anyone for fighting those damn purple bellies” Dash looked at Longstreet blankly and uttered “Whar does espinn’arge mean?” his dumb founded frown was whipped across his face again as Dash tried to piece together what Rina was wanted for. The actual reading, espionage, was a term that Dash was not too familiar with, and he thought best to ask Longstreet in case it was need to know.             

[Marcus O'Terra]

Marcus breath cut short as Longstreet brought out the warrants, and after Dash got his look, Marcus read it up and down. He let out a short laugh. "I wonder if I should be insulted I'm not being hunted for more..." Still it gave room for pause. Longstreet was willing to hire fugitives for this work. 

"Well that's curious." Marcus said, but he simply shrugged. "Still nice to know you know, and it won't be the sorta thing you 'discover' as an excuse to drop us if a disagreement arises. I appreciate your honesty." There was the threat of bringing down the feds. But Longstreet had brought him into their sanctum. He wouldn't do that unless he had a fall-back plan.

Marcus wouldn't snitch anyhow.... Thoughts of the Interrogator and the Dominion bubbled up, but he kept them back.

[Bishop Morse]

Longstreet


Longstreet waited as they looked it over, and he turned his focus to other man standing there, who it seemed was having trouble with the information that was there. ”Spying.” he answered. He didn’t care about a persons history in terms of schooling. He’d known a number of very gifted people that were incapable of reading anything at all. And given what this mans profession of choice seemed to be, it didn’t matter much anyway, so long as he knew how to read the numbers on a payout. He leaned back when he heard Marcus begin to speak up.

Longstreet thought about the response. He had done more looking into then just that. He’d checked in on whatever he could to find what it was that this was linked to. Apparently it had something to do the attack on the Dominion about a month before then, and the murder of several Alliance soldiers. The death in terms of the soldiers didn’t bother him. War or peace, soldiers got killed. The part that had concerned him was the 20,000 peace time soldiers that had gotten killed. However the likeliness that this group had anything to do with it specifically was non existent. They were clearly of somewhat humble means, living off what they could. But doing that much damage to a ship that fast would require a very large amount of coordination, firepower, manpower, money, or at least connections. And by the sound of them, it didn’t seem like they had a great abundance of any of it, making them as far as he was concerned, innocent. 

”As far as I’m concerned, this doesn’t exist.” He said pointing towards the smart paper. ”It doesn’t bother me, because it really doesn’t have much weight out here.” He said regarding the fact that they were in the second farthest system from the central planets. ”But I’d appreciate it if you don’t flaunt any of these passed miss dealings you’ve evidently had.” Longstreet took another small drink from the glass. He set it down on the desk once more. ”So long as that is agreed with, then yes, we have our accord.” He said, then offering out his hand as the man before him had done a moment before. There was still more to all of this, but this was probably the most important portion.

[Marcus O'Terra]

Marcus listened opinion regarding the warrant a small smile of relief broke over his face. He was thankful the man wasn't interesting in the bounty. The fact he said it held 'little weight' gave him less hope. Out here plenty would go after him if they knew what he, or more likely Rina, were worth. Longstreet's allusion to discretion on his warrant didn't surprise him though.

"I've no intent toward waving that around." Marcus sighed. He wouldn't go into the loss of Mercy and Hope due to those events. He hadn't known them but their deaths were sudden and terrible. He didn't mind that the soldier who'd left Mercy for dead and shot through Hope was a corpse in some morgue by this point. But it didn't make things any better.

When Longstreet extend his hand, Marcus met half way and they shook hands. Marcus released and leaned back in his own seat. Longstreet likely hand more to say, and Marcus was starting to become openly curious about what the man had in store for the group.

[Bishop Morse]

Dannie Shutter


His question was answered before Longstreet implied not to tread on any alliance toes. Dash nodded as he accepted the answer given by Longstreet, he turned around and walked slowly to admire the guns racked on one side of the wall, his head started to tilt upward with his arms folded behind his back and a tiny glint of satisfaction in his eyes. “Only starved men will be after those heads, and starved men don’t fight too good.” He seemed comforted that the bounty wasn’t too pricey to entice heavy hitters, the cogs in his head were ticking and it showed in expression, his bottom lip had overlapped his top and his left eye had closed slightly, he contemplated about the odds. 

“Aint played Pusoy for a while....” Dash started to ponder aloud to himself and his left hand started to stroke his goatee in deep thought. 

[Ilana Logan]

Marina Kseniya Sebastian


She saw the warrants.  She kept her mouth shut.  Longstreet might profess he had no problem with the fact they were fugitives but she would believe it when she saw it.  She stifled a wince at Dash’s query and Marcus’s answer on espionage.  Part of that warrant was pure propaganda, but the other part of it was true. Though Longstreet didn’t seem to need an explanation, she looked at Marcus and Dash and Cassia and wondered how much they’d require she tell them.

Cross that bridge when you come to it.  If they don’t bring it up, keep it that way. 

As for the matter of flaunting, it was so far from her intent it might have been funny, had she felt like laughing.  But this was no laughing matter and it wasn’t hard to maintain her composure. She crossed her arms again and leaned against her chair and wondered just what Longstreet had in mind for them.

[Bishop Morse]

Longstreet


Longstreet leaned back in towards the group in front of him. He heard the one with the longer duster on, and his accent from deep in the rim, speak of the price. He didn’t particularly agree with who would go after a bounty like those. While the price might not have been high, the warrants were the concerning portion. Not just anyone would be willing to take them down themselves, but anyone could give information to the Alliance, and even the Union had it’s independent pawns that would do anything for them, the money being the last thing on their minds. But that wasn’t a typical response from most of those kinds of runners, and Longstreet wasn’t particularly worried about it. 

He grabbed the glass and finished the drink that was inside. There hadn’t been that much of the liquid inside of it, and it had actually taken him longer to finish it then he thought. He just placed it back down on his desk, though a bit farther to his right so it wouldn’t have been in his way. He looked at the screen in front of him, and tapped it, and then moved a bit of the data on it. ”As you might imagine, there is something that some of my people need help with right now. If your interested, I can hand the opportunity to your end.” Longstreet said moving the glass a bit further to the side of his desk, finding it to be too centered where it was. 

[Marcus O'Terra]

Marcus let the tension from the bounties pass without further comment. Longstreet had made his position clear. Marcus kept a cool head and his face had returned to a neutral 'business' sort of look. It actually gave a look to some of the wrinkles built up around his eyes, from squinting through scopes and down sights.

Marcus nodded thoughtfully at the prospective of a job right after this. He looked Longstreet in the eye with his response. "Is there an urgent need to move on the matter? I'd like to give my crew chance to rearm," He stopped as he realized what he'd said, and the implication toward Rina's LACK of arm. "er.... restock as per their needs... But we'd be much obliged if you gave us the work."

He wasn't sure if right now meant at that moment or within a week. It depended on the person, the situation, context. Still, getting everyone some combat mesh wouldn't be a bad thing.

[Bishop Morse]

Longstreet

”Of course.” Longstreet said nodding. He had no intention of sending them off just as soon as they’d arrived. No one could be expected to live on such a brutal schedule, except in time of war. And the war was long gone. ”I just thought I’d tell you about what it is I have for you to do.” He stopped a moment, considering taking care of the glass, or perhaps getting himself another one. But he opted to just leave it there instead.

He moved data on his screen again, and up so it was out of the way. ”A team of mine is planning on moving to…” He paused to figure what the right word should be. ”acquire items of a valuable nature. They’ll be heading towards a trading post, but they’ll likely be outnumbered, and should gun play ensue, it’d be best if they had more on hand. Should that not be the case, you’ll just help make sure everything goes smoothly and lend a hand where you can.” He grabbed the glass once more and stood up. ”They’re on their way here, so you’ll be able to meet them.” He finished.

Longstreet moved over towards the bar once again, and set the glass down upon it. He had it on the lower portion, and towards the left to indicate it needed cleaning. As he did a small metal device came out and entered into the center. It shot a laser field out through the glass sterilizing it. Longstreet didn’t look at it, he just came back over to his seat. ”You’ll be riding in with them, and you’ll be taking a fine portion of the profits as payment.” He said turning to face the people in front of him once more.

[Bishop Morse]

Dannie Shutter


Dash shook himself out from the thought of gambling and the prospect of winning money. He unhinged his head from Longstreet’s gun collection and turned his head around towards the impressive looking desk, Dash nodded in accordance to the info given to the group, he stroked his long goatee once more as he collaborated with his mind. The unhelpful urge for whisky entered his thoughts and his taste buds started to swell. He licked his chapped lips and started to sweat from the heat of the fire, to which was also combined with his ‘waking shakes’. as Dash lightly coined it, to describe the processes of his addiction. His eyes shifted subtly as he looked at the group. He looked down slowly and realised his fingers were starting to twitch, he then casually placed both hands into his large pockets.

Dash was intrigued about their first assignment and he noted that there might be some risk of ambush, but he sensed something else was underlining. Maybe it was just Longstreet’s way to withhold certain details, until a need to know occasion arises. This time however his thoughts were concentrated on the bottle of wine he had stashed in his rucksack. A voice rattled in his head; Thats sumthin to take the edge offa things.

[Marcus O'Terra]

Marcus liked the plan already. They'd be back up and support, which meant whoever was doing the job would be leading and doing all the talking. "I see no problem with it. Might be avoid violence just by being more of us there..." He didn't comment on the payment. He already had money to distribute.

Being able to rest up and get their bearings would be a fine thing.

"Well sir, that sounds like a fine arrangement. Now I suppose we've taken up enough of your time. Though I can't recall being on Beaumonde in a long while. You wouldn't happen to have room around here were we can bunk for the time being?"

He smiled, and a thought occurred to him, as his gloved thumb brushed against the stack of bills in his hand. "And the five-hundred for theHardtack..." He didn't need to guess the man had the money, but he felt it was a good deal in all, in fact he wondered if he'd have gotten the offer if Burts had been alive at the end of the trip.

He wasn't going to press the issue. It was past. The present and future occupied his thoughts.

[Ilana Logan]

Marina Kseniya Sebastian


Rina listened and wondered what the job was really about. Items of a valuable nature—an elastic clause if she ever heard one.  The fact they were going to a trading post narrowed things down some.  She doubted they’d be stealing something as big as an Alliance cruiser, for instance, but stranger things have happened.  The possibility of getting a place to hole up and rest strongly appealed to her and the very thought of a long soak in a hot bath made her skin crave the pleasure.  Bathing on the Hard Tack wasn’t really possible—there was only so much she was able to do with a sink and a washcloth one-handed.  Immersing herself in a tub or better yet, standing under a shower as it dumped copious amounts of hot water on her head … 

Now that is my idea of heaven, right there. 

She set the thought aside and paid attention.  The meeting wasn’t quite over yet.

[Bishop Morse]

Longstreet


Longstreet looked down at his console once more. A piece data had come on, and he moved it again. ”There are hotels all around outside the industrial district.” He said. The industrial district was rather large, but it stretched wide, and not long at this particular end. Getting out and you had only to pass beyond the security fence that wrapped around each section, and you were standing inside of the city. It was a bit fast paced and not a friendly sort of place, so they’d have to be careful outside. ”If you absolutely need somewhere to stay, there is room here on the premises.” He offered. There was quite a lot of room, namely because a lot of his people didn’t tend to do much outside of their duty. Therefore there was a lot of room on hand. 

He nodded at the request for the rest of the money. He opened the drawer to his right once more and pulled out the remainder of the money. This stack was smaller then the last by far, but it was still the amount that was agreed on, five hundred, matched up in hundred notes. He set it down in front for the one who’d requested it. He tapped on the screen again to move some things. He sent out a request for a ‘claw-carrier’ to come around and take the vessel off to the scrap yard. He wasn’t sure how long it would take them to arrive, but he’d sent it out and a pledge to sell.

Something caught his eye on the screen. A small box which appeared to notify him of what he’d been told to expect. ”Hmm.” he said removing it. ”It seems the team your working with has arrived.” Longstreet announced turning in his chair to face the door. As he did there was the sound of the door handle being worked. Opening the door was a man in a long dark coat that went just above his knees. He had longer blonde hair that draped down his back and shoulders.