Futuristic Starpath: Burning Sails [IC] [CLOSED]

[Emperor Sagan]

Shelby smoothed out her dress and stood up a little straighter when Lauren finally addressed her. She still wasn't sure if this lady was the captain, but she was definitely someone in charge. She looked the strong type. But the woman's question definitely gave her a moment's pause. What could she do for these pirates? She wasn't a fighter, or a doctor, or a mechanic, or a pilot, or a navigator, or... really anything.

"Um... I can play piano... and I know archery. And I can ride horses," she said, tapping her chin. "I kinda also know my way around electronics, both systems and hardware." Shelby paused. That all didn't quite seem like something pirates would want that much. "I can forge documents and I know a lot about merchant shipping. Oh! I know martial arts, too, I learned at school."

But what kind of job could I even get on a spaceship? She had to be marketable. What could she do the others couldn't, or possibly wouldn't. "I can... cook and clean?"

That was actually a lie, but that couldn't be too hard to figure out. And cooking and cleaning should also keep her away from the danger of... pirate things. And illegal stuff.

"I guess I'm kinda green but I... I can do lots of things, too! I just don't know what, um, I could offer necessarily... learning won't be hard for me, either!"

 

[Infab]

Lauren eyed Shelby through the bangs of her blue hair, before eventually sighing. This kid had no business being in a place like this, but she was likely here for a good reason. Thing is, she didn't need to STAY here, so it looked like she was coming with them. "...Alright, you're in. You can cook and clean till we train you to do somethin' else." said Lauren finally, motioning with a hand over towards where Drav and Roku were. "...Its better than leaving you wandering around this station till you got snatched up by some pervert lookin' for a fun time." She then looked to the next one in line. Albert. She reached out and shook his hand, before speaking. "Lauren Blackwell. The new leader of Blackwell's Reavers." she said, looking away as she said the second part. She ran a hand through her hair before continuing. "And yes, we're recruiting...I'm sure you heard why."

Zadra gave Vance a confused look. US armed forces? Maybe he was from the Commonwealth, or Sol. They always had a thing with acronyms. "Armed forces means you're good with a gun. Plenty useful. You're in. As for you, priest, what can you do?" she asked, leaning forwards a bit as she looked back to Vincent.

-----

The bartender raised an eyebrow. "Well, Slade was friends with Valkyrie, the old leader of the Reavers. She died about a month ago. You know Anora Cortus, right? Swooped in, killed 'em all. Slade's helping Lauren pick up the pieces and rebuild the Reavers from the ground up."

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Shelby's face lit up when Lauren said she was in. I did it! That wasn't so hard!

"T-thanks, ma'am!" Shelby said, smiling, but blushed a bit when she mentioned she could have been watched by perverts if she was left around. If that was the case here, it was a good thing she was able to get out of here as soon as possible with these people. They didn't seem all that bad. So far, the pirates hadn't been very pirate-like. Maybe she had the wrong ideas about them.

She moved along towards Drav and Roku after Lauren gestured towards them, and she heard Lauren introduce herself to the well-dressed man behind her in the line. So she is the captain, cool!

Shelby carried her suitcase in both hands and approached Drav and Roku only slightly nervously. The Ayr definitely creeped her out a little... but wait can't he read my mind. S-shit. Sorry! If you... if you can hear this. Oh heck. And the Khergian was large and still as intimidating as she looked earlier, but if they were anything like Lauren, then they couldn't be all that bad.

"Um... hi, I'm Shelby. Miss Lauren said I'm hired."

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

“And quite adequately too, I must add." he said, turning to the rest of the patrons lined up in front of Lauren. "I can definitely picture them lasting about one fraction of a second longer than most other pirates in a fight." He smirks to himself underneath his protective mask.

 

[Frankafurter]

Yolandi finishes her bottle of whiskey and orders another bottle for the road, she pays up for everything she's ordered so far, plus pays for Vulkov's drinks that he's had so far. She turns and takes her leave, mumbling about the gaggle of people trying to impress their potential hire. Her though? She's gonna go find a room for rent and nurse this second bottle of whiskey in peace and quiet. She takes a left out of the Chalice and down the walkway, following the neon signs that mark out services and other areas of note, the first thing she's gonna do is head to the storage unit she rented and make sure her baby is safely stowed for the night and to make sure no one gets any ideas about trying to peek inside or scav it for parts. She takes occasional swigs from the bottle as she walks, the bevvies she's had prior starting to sink into her and giving her a good buzz for the time being.

Once she reaches the storage unit, she swipes her access card and steps inside as the lights automatically come on. She stares at her baby, Zou, a relic of humanity's battle armor development, long since out of date and the company that produced it long since disappeared from existence as markets changed in the last couple decades. The suit stands taller than Yolandi's two meters, the point at which she had to park it squatting to fit within the storage unit properly. She notes the gouges in the walls and ceiling from where she jockeyed it a bit too much, there goes the security deposit on the unit. She steps inside and begins checking it around for any signs of tampering, she doesn't know who else has access to this unit since the swipe card probably isn't the only copy of it. The cannon unit has been seperated from the modular mount on the right arm and is laying on the ground next to the suit. The cannon itself was a retrofit, the original weapon mount was a high intensity laser, but she couldn't get replacement parts for it and had to switch to a more common and easily maintained kinetic autocannon, which was fine by her, she preferred the ratcheting bangs of the chainfeed system to the loud hiss of the laser as it flashboiled the moisture out of the air.

Once her inspection was complete, she closed the unit up and headed for the habitation blocks to try and find a bed to relax in and finish off this second bottle of whiskey, the first bottle at this point working it's boozy magic on her brain. So much so that she detours at the neon sign marking out a gentleman's club that's trying to paint itself as some high brow establishment, dunno how high brow a pirate station can get, but maybe they do something more like the old Terran burlesque shows. It's enough to peak her drunken interest and thus she heads down the walkway for "The Regal Mistress Parlor."

 

[joshuadim]

"Ah, well. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to be a passenger on board. I'm a writer by trade, and... well, ironic as it is I haven't written a single page since my only book became a mass hit. Writer's block, you see? So, I opted to leave my comfy home and travel for inspiration. If you'd take me, I'd like to chronicle the travels of yourself and your crew. If needed, I can help with medical supplies. I was close to finishing a medical degree in toxicology before I published my book funnily enough, as I never did go through with that as my career choice." Albert explained himself to Lauren.

In truth, he was quite nervous at the possibility of being rejected. This was a big chance to really get to writing once again, and whatever shenanigans they would come across would be prime material for a book, nay, several books!

 

[Infab]

"Hey, don't worry about me prying into your thoughts. I like privacy just as much as you do. I'm Roku, the pilot." said Roku, making a sort of happy expression with his eyes and eyebrows as the words flowed into Shelby's head. Drav sat up a bit, which made her loom over Shelby even if she was sitting down. She looked Shelby over, then smiled. "Drav. Drav fix gun, armor." said the khergian, pointing her thumb towards her own chest.

Lauren raised an eyebrow. A writer? She thought on it for a few moments, before eventually nodding. "...Alright, you can be a passenger on the ship. But if I tell you to do something, you do it. Got it?" she said, tilting her head a bit as she looked at the man.

 

[joshuadim]

"Your ship, your rules ma'am. Thank you so much!" Albert responded with a smile before leaving for his previous position at the bar to quickly gather himself and write into his notebook. He was giddy with excitement at this given opportunity, and wrote as such in his notebook.

I now find myself in the company of Blackwell's Reavers! Their captain has allowed me to stay with them and write about them. An exciting development! Albert scribbled down quickly.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Oh no he did read my thoughts, Shelby thought, blushing again. This was getting out of hand, the Ayr could do this so easily. They could know everything about her at this point! She just had to think of other things around them....

"U-um, nice to meet you, Mister Roku," she said after she spent a second composing herself. "I don't know much about piloting but I'm sure you're the best! I've never driven anything before... except some water skiffs on Cas... er, Hydraxis. Like motorcycles but around the beach and water."

She then glanced over at the massive Drav. Another giantess around, it seemed. Shelby offered another friendly smile, tucking her loose bangs back behind her ear again. "I actually have a gun! Erm, in my backpack. I'll be sure to go to you if it needs to be fixed! But I don't use it much. Maybe I will though since I'm a pirate now...." That was a curious thought. Maybe she'd have to carry it on a holster now in the open to let everyone know she was a serious pirate.

 

[The_Rifleman]

Jackson listened to the swirl of conversation around him, excited by what he was hearing. The entire place was a recruitment depot for Blackwell's Reavers. Even on the farther side of the sector where he was from, he heard of them and didn't want a miss a chance at joining them. If he'll have the nametag, local police might have a second thought to chasing him. On the plus side as well, everyone in here looked pretty capable. Pirates, runaways, secrets. Everything he found the most exciting in an adventure. Oh what's this, a writer!? Jackson slammed the rest of his drink, chugged his coffee and stood up letting out a loud roar before walking over to Albert.

"ALLLLBERRRRTTTTTT!!!!" He yells out, putting his arm around the man's shoulder, "Have you heard the tale of Jackson GrosBeak!?" asking loud enough for the entire bar to hear. "The taaalleeeee of the most feeeeearsome pirate to ever roam the space of this sector!? Single handedly bringing back a golden age of piracy....with his majestic ship, the Whiiiiiteee Peaaarrrlllllllll!!!????" He stops and looks around, with people starring.

"Aye, nobody has because he isn't that pirate yet. But marrrrk my words I will be when I get my hands on that fucking ship! Anywho, nice recruitment party here. Love the baverages," he continues walking back towards Lauren, introducing himself with a handshake. "Hiya, name's Jackson, pals call me Baldy. Forgot to print my resume but it's mostly killin' and explosives. Take your pick."

 

[Infab]

Lauren rolled her eyes. Oh my fucking god, another theatrical one. "Easy there, buddy. Killin' and explosives is fine. And I hope for your sake it's not just bullshit you're spewing." she said, waving him off. "You're in. Go sit somewhere and relax till we're done."

Drav tilted her head a bit. "Practice make perfect. Shoot at range when we go home. You do fine." she said, in response to Shelby's comments about her gun. It was better to know how to use firearms in this kind of profession. There were some that actually didn't use guns, but they were talented in other ways. Either word play or with melee weapons. Drav was more of a heavy weapons kind of person, but she did have her fists in case she had to bash something in close quarters.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

"Okay, I'll give it a try! I've shot it before at target practice, but its been a little while," Shelby nodded. The appearance of the yelling man screaming for someone named Albert made her wince a bit, and she double checked to make sure her tazer was still in her pocket. That guy seemed like one of those creepy weirdos Captain Lauren had mentioned a moment ago.

"So... what does the pirate ship look like? Is it big with lots of guns?"

 

[The_Rifleman]

Jackson gave Lauren a bow, before mimicking kissing his biceps. "You won't regret it." He walked back to the other side of the bar and pick up another botte and went back to Albert's booth. Hell yea, gettin' fuckin' paid. He set the bottle down, uncorked the top, and chugged before offering some to Albert. "Have a read anything you written, Mr. Writer man?"

 

[Infab]

Roku drew out his holotablet when Shelby spoke of the ship. "Here's what it looks like." he said, swiping a few times on the screen before drawing up a picture of the ship. "Its apparently called the Mordred. You know, from those old Terran legends. Arthur Pendragon, Lancelot, Morgan le Fay and so on." Drav chimed in. "Big ship. Big guns. Get job done." she said, with a nod. "Old, though. Need new paint. New armor."

-----

The bartender cut the doctor a look. "Well, why don't you join up with 'em? It'd certainly raise their chances of survival, since they'll likely need a doctor." he said, before turning to where the booze was lined up on the shelf behind him. "All good pirate vessels need a doctor on the crew."

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Shelby leaned in and looked at the holotablet closely, studying the ship. It didn't look as piratey as he thought it would, but it was still a solid looking overall. And it would be his home for... however long he was around with these people. Hopefully the inside was nice and fashionable and not sparse like a military ship or something. That would be very upsetting. And hopefully these pirates weren't dirty and kept the place messy.

"The Mordred? Yeah... I read about those stories at school. Wasn't Mordred the bad guy?" I guess that makes sense if they are pirates. Would be strange to be called the King Arthur if you are the bad guys... or at least not-so-good guys. It had been a couple years since his school masters had gone over old Terran literature and myth. He never figured he would ever need to know any of it again, thought it was at least interesting enough to keep his attention in those classes. "Better than calling it the... the Green Knight I guess. That guy was a weirdo."

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

"Of course they do. And..." the bartender's words make him think for a moment. "...they would pay very highly for a good one, wouldn't they? I'm starting to understand what you mean." Him and his group could always use more money after what's been happening to them recently, and given the current status of the Reavers, they might just be willing to pay him anything to get him onboard.

And since he's rather pressed for time, he cuts to the front of the table where Lauren and the others are seated and establishes his presence to them.

"So it's true then, the great Reavers have fallen and now need more than a helping hand to set them on their feet once more?"

 

[Viper Actual]

Daniel listened to the bartender speak of Blackwell's Reavers, the loss of their former leader and how they were looking for new blood. Generally he had been avoiding larger and more notorious groups but in this case he figured that the Blackwell name alone would pay much.

He got up, grabbed his bags and walked over to the lines. Once it was his turn he approached the table, rifle still dangling from its sling, dropped his two duffel bags marked with D. Milosovic in bold letters.

Daniel nodded towards Lauren and Zadra. "Captain. Ma'am."
He stood at attention. "Daniel Milosovic. Former contractor. Trained combat medic. I have a hundred percent success rate in the field. I follow orders to the letter. Low-maintenance, no vices and no urge to seize power. As long as you're paying I will provide both combat and non-combat services."

---

With Kovak vanishing off to the bar Nathalie relaxed a bit. Unknown to Kovak she had kept a small vibroblade underneath her right hand. Just in case.

Once the talk of recruitment started to echo throughout the bar Nathalie nodded in a satisfied fashion. Looks like her intuition had been right.

She grabbed her rucksack and got up from her seat. As she approached Lauren's table she batted her eyelashes towards Kovak.

Nathalie stopped at the line and once it was her turn she was greeted by somekind of horned woman. Didn't recognize the species.

She grabbed her rucksack with both of her hands and held it infront of herself at a waist-level.
"Walker. Friends call me Nat."

Nathalie paused for a moment. What could she do onboard the ship? There was no need for high-risk infiltration, targeted assassinations, enhanced interrogation, asset recovery or covert strike operations.
What else had the SSOID taught her?

She looked at Zadra. "I'm a navigator. Damn good one too. I can also handle piloting and tactical operations. Nothing I can't do onboard a bridge. All I want in return is a bunk, a warm meal once a day and place to stay low."

 

[Breadman]

"As well as taking care of any of your crew that might have grown a conscience lately, I also have medical experience." Vincent politely answered Zadra's question "So i can provide both physical and spiritual healing."

"All confidential of course." Whatever the answer he would get, it would probably be delayed as more and more patrons started filling in to make their bit for the crew.
---
Vulkov's ears perked up even more when he heard Slade was former Death Vigil. Before they had his attention, now they have his interest. His temporary drinking buddy departed and was left alone to his own thoughts, but he needed a bit anyway. Should he say right out the bat who he was? Would this Slade guy know who he was? It's been decades, so maybe. But looked like this might be his chance to get some payback. The list was short, but complete and everyone on that list deserved what he had wanted to do to them.

He got up from the bar and to where the rest were gathered.
"Petar Vulkov. Former Gold dust. You want someone in the ground, you hire me. Only one question. How good is the pay?"

 

[Infab]

Zadra nodded. "Alright. I'm sure one or two that join up might be religious. I honestly don't know too much about this galaxy's religions. And we could always use medical staff." She motioned to her right, where Drav, Shelby, and Roku were. "You're in." Then approached four more people. Two went to Lauren, while the other two went to Zadra. Zadra chuckled as Daniel finished speaking. "Buddy, nobody says they don't have an urge to seize power unless they HAVE the urge to seize it. Still...you look true to your word. Combat medic are plenty useful for raiding parties, so you're in." After Daniel came Nathalie. "Nat, huh?...We could use another navigator. Either just in case, or for second guessing. You also look like you might have combat experience, so you're in too."

Lauren looked up as the doctor approached and spoke, and a frown formed on her face. "You here to rub it in like those Bloodrunner fuckheads? Or are you here to actually join up?" she said, a hint of anger in her voice. They could use a doctor. Like, an actual doctor. Not a priest with doctor experience, or a combat medic. She then looked over as another man approached. "Ex-Gold Dust, eh? Did you get booted out by mom or pop?" she asked, as he stated the last name Vulkov. "Didn't think Ivana or Rasputin would throw out their own son." She sat forward a bit, raising an eyebrow.

 

[Breadman]

"Those two are still alive? Mamitsata im." Vulkov grinned at the thought of him passing off as their son even more of the implications of incest between the two, forgetting just how much time has passed for a second, he wouldn't be surprised if the two degenerated to that even. "I'm their brother."

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

"Well you see, I couldn't help but notice the sad amateurs you have the misfortune of attracting, and I thought to myself perhaps you could use someone better than they. Is this right?"

 

[Infab]

Lauren looked surprised. She had heard once about the pair having a younger brother, and apparently here he stood. Did they put him in cryo or something? Or did he just get shoved into a cybernetic body so that he looked younger? Either way, he was a Gold Dust, so he knew how to handle himself right. "Huh...well, yeah. We'll pay well. Straight out of my pocket to begin with, then whatever we make off hits and jobs. Sound good?" she said, before looking back to the doctor. "...Well, we do need an actual legit doctor. Hope you can do more than just meatball surgery." she said, motioning to the blood on his outfit.

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

"This outfit isn't for show, you know. I've been at my craft for centuries. And please, don't mind the blood. Sometimes the procedures can get rather messy if my patient absolutely refuses to cooperate with me, hence this bottle."

 

[Viper Actual]

Daniel ignored Zadra's comment and nodded. "Looking forward to getting to work."

He grabbed his bags and moved over to the table where Roku, Drav and Shelby were seated. Daniel dropped his bags on the floor next to Shelby with a loud thunk.

"Looks like we will be working together."

Daniel extended his hand to greet the trio. "Milosovic. Combat medic."

---

Nathalie nodded. "I know a thing or two besides how to operate ships."
"I won't let you down, thanks."

With that said she hoisted her backpack up om her right shoulder and stepped aside. She looked at the others which had been recruited but didn't feel like talking.

It was an odd bunch. Hopefully not too odd.

 

[SniperComZero]

Kovak had, for the past little while, contented herself with staying at the bar, glancing over to what had apparently become the recruiting table, and all of the patrons who'd become pirate-hopefuls. [...Yeah. I'm getting in on that.] Before she strutted her way on over, however, there was a firm tapping of fingers against the bar. "'Tender. Shot of vodka, straight." She worked better when she was buzzed. Or, at least, so she believed, anyways. Knocking it down in a single gulp, the pilot gritted her teeth, shot-glass placed upside down on the bar. She grabbed her helmet once more, straightening the dome of lights, metal and polymers atop her own dome, internals pressurizing with a quiet fwkshh.

With no great amount of tact or subtlety, she pushed her way towards the front of the queue, confident-- and perhaps a bit too overly so, in her own abilities, as palms placed themselves flat against the table that her prospective bosses were sitting at. "I heard you were looking for new blood? I want in. Best damn fighter pilot this side of Sol, if I say so myself." The voice coming from the helmet had the crispness added by a tranceiver on the fritz, but the arrogance in that voice still managed to come through loud, clear, and absolutely blaring. "Me'n Phobos come as a package deal. Ain't here-- but she's in the hangar. I'll make sure to introduce you."