The more Ash worked with Jessy the more comfortable he became. She had a good eye for detail and had picked the hiding places well. She’d made sure the places appeared natural and yet would allow them to be found.

“You’re pretty good with this Fahn Leong Jian (Blindside or conspire against someone secretly), almost seems like you’ve had practice.” Ash smiled as they climbed back in the mule to head back to the boat.

“Miss Jessy, I don’t rightly know what you might have done before this,...but I know Wyatt and if he’s on your side so am I. He’s put his trust in you and that ain’t something that comes easy.” The gunslinger watch as Jessy slid into the seat next to him, she did justice to the pair of coveralls. Ash never could figure out how some ladies just made anything they wore look good.

Throttling up the mule again he didn’t waste time covering the distance back to Roc. The wind still blew Jessy's hair around even though she’d pulled it back; her soft features mixing with an air confidence seemed to add to her beauty. Brains, beauty and confidence had served her well and the PR man appreciated that she knew how to use her strengths.

After a minute or so Ash spoke up, “ This whole situation is going to get very nasty…. I think you’re going to need more than those knives of yours.” Trying not to look too smug he continued, “It’s my job to try and keep the crew safe so I’ve learned to be watchful…. That dress you wore didn’t leave much room for hide’n them blades. I’m sure Mr. Whitesuit and his boys saw them too……….. When we get back I’ve an extra Colt 22 that'll fit them pockets and maybe something with a little more fire power……….. ever handled an Uzi?”

As they approach the boat Ash waited on her comments.

The last bomb planted, the last picture taken, they headed back to the Mule; Jessy set the case back into the Mule as she moved to climb aboard.

“You’re pretty good with this Fahn Leong Jian, almost seems like you’ve had practice.” Ash smiled as they climbed back in the mule to head back to the boat.
Jessy cast a sideways glance at Ash and saw the little smile; she raised an eyebrow and thought for a moment about what he said. Yeah she had experience at cons, that was for sure, but most people couldn’t spot it; less they were in the same business as her.

“Well, I have been around the block a few times, ” she said with a smile of her own.

“Miss Jessy, I don’t rightly know what you might have done before this,...but I know Wyatt and if he’s on your side so am I. He’s put his trust in you and that ain’t something that comes easy.” The gunslinger said as the Mule took off headed back towards the ship.
“I’ve only done what I needed to survive,” she said softly, the words barely carried over the noise of the wind.

After a minute or so Ash spoke up, “ This whole situation is going to get very nasty…. I think you’re going to need more than those knives of yours.” Trying not to look too smug he continued, “It’s my job to try and keep the crew safe so I’ve learned to be watchful…. That dress you wore didn’t leave much room for hide’n them blades. I’m sure Mr. Whitesuit and his boys saw them too……….. When we get back I’ve an extra Colt 22 that'll fit them pockets and maybe something with a little more fire power……….. ever handled an Uzi?”
“A little while ago you locked me up and now you’re offering me a gun?” she said with a slim raised eyebrow and a small smile on her lips, “things around here sure do move fast.” She thought on his offer for a moment before she looked at Ash again.

“I’m not much one for guns,” she said with a shrug, “but it might be good to have a small one handy, maybe the .22?”

She looked down at the coveralls and where she had the slim blades stored; there was no sign of them here so he must have seen them back when she was wearing the torn gown. She hated to kill anyone but if the choice came down to her life or someone else’s then she wanted to be the one still walking away.

“You all better watch out for that Fay Fay duh Pee yen* Matherson,” she said as they came up to the ship and he slowed the mule, “he has his own agenda and shouldn’t be trusted.”

When they got to the ship she hopped out and grabbed the silver case and followed Ash; she assumed they would report in to the Captain on the completion of their mission; she hoped all this was worth it.

(*Baboon’s A**hole)

Looking over her coveralls Jessy replied,“A little while ago you locked me up and now you’re offering me a gun ……..things around here sure do move fast. …………..I’m not much one for guns,……………but it might be good to have a small one handy, maybe the .22?...........You all better watch out for that Fay Fay duh Pee yen* Matherson,…..he has his own agenda and shouldn’t be trusted.”
Letting out a deep sigh Ash said, “Well if I’m wrong about you, you won’t be the first girl to shoot me in the back……… as things moving fast this is on dirt you should see how they go in the black. Yeah, we need to keep an eye on Whitecoat, but for the moment it’s to all our advantage to work together........Wyatt will give us the high sign when it’s time to not work with him…………. When we get back we’ll check with Miss Willow about sending the comm with the pictures, ………maybe you can do that while I fetch your gun. “


Ash parked the mule outside the loading ramp for easy access. The two hopped out and headed into Roc.

(Edited to correct about the case being used.)

(Back posting a bit to move forward)

Willow didn't let her surprise at the bodyguards' tale show on her face, but any kindness she may have felt towards their employer hardened to steel at that moment. Still, there were more pressing matters before her.

After ensuring that Havelock would rest a while longer by watching oiver the sleeping Amber, Willow left, pausing to let suppressed emotion . Only by confronting and acknowledging emotions could one overcome them, and gradually, her old fear faded. Yes, she's almost died...and yet, she didn't, and that was what mattered. Shoulders straight and chin high, she went to find the Captain.

Ony to be stopped in her tracks by the most luscious smell - warm broth of onions, carrots and celery, with hints of potato. parsnip, and broccoli...and something she couldn't quite place. Her mouth watered and she realized that her last meal was long, long ago. She saw Trish with a container of soup and biscuits but before Willow could even thank her, Trish shoved the items into her hands so she could draw out her pad and pencil to scribble a note.

* Can you smell that?*

"Why yes, Auntie, " Willow began," my stomach nearly clenched in half at the scent; now I'm so hungry..."

* No. Something else. Something ...wrong?*

Willow paused to inhale again, opening her lips slightly to draw in air over lips and tongue as well as through her nose, as the Guild's winemaster had taught her - there! Something...burnt?

It took the women almost no time to follow the acrid smell once they had it fixed firmly in their noses, and soon enough Willow was looking at an engine that was still as much a mystery to her as it had ever been, but the fine powder on the floor and the forlorn cables dangling from the shaft were clear enough.

"What is it the Captain said about the luck of threes?" Willow asked Trish, not really expecting an answer," this day has an exponential kind of luck - it just keeps coming."

She realized she didn't have the luxury of time to find the Captain - she needed him now! Walking further into the engine room, she thumbed the comm to shipwide broadcast. "Captain-san, it's Willow. We need to speak. Urgently. Please respond with your location."

Survival made bedfellows out of the strangest people, but that didn't mean that Wyatt trusted anyone other than his crew. Relying on Matherson was a gambit he wasn't thrilled about, and it pained him to be forced into the situation. He also wasn't exactly excited about the wartime tactics he was being forced to employ. The War had ended for most, and so long as Wyatt managed not to act like he was still at war, it hung out in the darkest recesses of his mind allowing him to be on leave for a while. This whole situation was bringing him right back to the front lines and that stirred up all kinds of syrupy emotions from what led him into the war to the atrocities he'd been witness to once he'd signed up. Here he was in another near hopeless situation where the only way out was to blow chunks of mud and people away. It did not sit well with the captain. But, as usual, he kept his polluted thoughts to himself as he boarded the shuttle and dropped behind the controls, Wolf in the copilot's seat. As near as Wyatt could tell his mechanic seemed intent on the prospect of getting the parts they needed from the processing plant and returning with John to repair Roc. And Wyatt was just fine with that.

Firing up the engines, Sung checked the telemetry and fuel gauges. He disengaged the docking clamps by flipping an overhead switch and eased back on the throttle, lifting the smaller vessel from its cradle in Roc's side. Forty-feet in the air, he pressed the accelerator forward and allowed the g-forces to press him back into the cushioned seat.

"Captain-san, it's Willow. We need to speak. Urgently. Please respond with your location."

Wyatt sighed and activated the comm unit, "I'm in the shuttle with Wolf. We've just left Roc. Can this wait?"

(OOC: Assuming a no, all things considered...)

"Well," he tried another approach. "Tell me what's what then, Sheh Sheh."

(OOC: Assuming something about not wanting to talk over the radio about what's gone down...)

Glancing at Wolf, Wyatt felt his stomach go cold from the interior through to the lining. Willow's tone was one of a woman collected, a calculated conversationalist, and that meant that whatever she was dealing with was something that either scared her, or really concerned her. She was fighting to not reveal too much, and if Wyatt hadn't known her so well he would have likely fallen for it.

"Alright, Mei Mei," Sung turned the shuttle about and punched in the docking codes. "I'm heading back now."

The captain didn't really have much to offer by way of what he thought was going on, so he tried his best to focus on the task of docking the shuttle. That meant not much in the way of conversation with Wolf and keeping his imagination at bay by needlessly running through the docking sequence. Once the shuttle had settled and the docking clamps were back in place, hit the comm again.

"Where are you, Willow? I'm back."

LV-426, InsideRocinante, 9:10 am PT
“Now, you an’ your two helpful sidekicks have proven mighty resourceful since I’ve met you. And it could be that y’all could be jus’ as resourceful in this game o’ poker we’re playin’ with those that are after the violin. If’n you’re willin’ t’ help, then I could use some assistance with a matter that could mean the difference between life an’ death for the lot of us.”

“Captain, I never wanted to be in this situation but I am glad that we have you and your crew right now. My men are at your disposal and I will help out anyway I can. When this is over, if we are all standing, I’d love the chance to do business with you without the threat of dying involved.”

“When we first landed on this rock we noticed tha’ someone was tryin’ t’ transmit. We stopped the feed as quick as we noticed, but we was able t’ determine tha’ the attempt was bein’ made from somewhere on board. The way I see things, whomever it was that was sending a signal was in cahoots with the mercs that are raisin’ such a stink. I also figure that the culprit is mingling with much finer folk...a wolf in sheep’s clothin’ t’ quote an old sayin’ from Earth That Was. I don’t ‘ave much time t’ find this person what with all the preparations I am needin’ t’ do, but I can’t very well have the Huen Dahn relaying the location o’ all them that are relatively innocent t’ the mercs. Think you an’ yours can root the problem out should you be returned to the rest o’ the passengers? Root them that’s on the inside out an’ make sure they don’t share any more information with our common enemy?” Wyatt explained.

Matherson pondered for a moment and then took the black box out of the case and then took a “diagnostic device” out as well and pocketed it. “This is a receiver for data from the feeders. I should be able to jury rig it to scan for the radio device sending the signals. But what shall I do when I find out? Let’s be honest with each other here – I am not opposed to ending a problem quickly.”

Engine Rooms, Rocinante , 9:35 am PT
The captain didn't really have much to offer by way of what he thought was going on, so he tried his best to focus on the task of docking the shuttle. That meant not much in the way of conversation with Wolf and keeping his imagination at bay by needlessly running through the docking sequence. Once the shuttle had settled and the docking clamps were back in place, hit the comm again.

"Where are you, Willow? I'm back."

(Assuming a “in the engine room. Come quickly and bring Wolf")

The two men raced to the engine room where Ma and Willow waited for them. Wolf sniffed the air puzzled as he came in and then he saw the engine. The compression coil is gone, vanished except a whole lot of dust, which makes no sense to anyone. You are officially humped - no repairs will lift you off without a new coil. Someone really does not want to risk you leaving the planet.

“Captain,” Matherson said. “I never wanted to be in this situation but I am glad that we have you and your crew right now. My men are at your disposal and I will help out anyway I can. When this is over, if we are all standing, I’d love the chance to do business with you without the threat of dying involved.”

Wyatt managed to smile past the disgust he felt over anyone who would create something as vile as the drug that had controlled that poor girl’s urges--not to mention Captain Sung’s. He could hear Eden’s soft admonition telling him not to fight too many battles at once. When he was younger--when he’d had hope--he’d also been rather hot-headed and prone to being too eager to face down anyone and everything, and it didn’t matter how many had come at him. Eden had been the initial damper on that behavior with the birth of Eden being the second. The War had put the nail in the coffin.

“When we first landed on this rock we noticed tha’ someone was tryin’ t’ transmit. We stopped the feed as quick as we noticed, but we was able t’ determine tha’ the attempt was bein’ made from somewhere on board. The way I see things, whomever it was that was sending a signal was in cahoots with the mercs that are raisin’ such a stink. I also figure that the culprit is mingling with much finer folk...a wolf in sheep’s clothin’ t’ quote an old sayin’ from Earth That Was. I don’t ‘ave much time t’ find this person what with all the preparations I am needin’ t’ do, but I can’t very well have the Huen Dahn relaying the location o’ all them that are relatively innocent t’ the mercs. Think you an’ yours can root the problem out should you be returned to the rest o’ the passengers? Root them that’s on the inside out an’ make sure they don’t share any more information with our common enemy?” Wyatt explained.

Matherson pondered for a moment and then took the black box out of the case and then took a “diagnostic device” out as well and pocketed it. “This is a receiver for data from the feeders. I should be able to jury rig it to scan for the radio device sending the signals. But what shall I do when I find out? Let’s be honest with each other here – I am not opposed to ending a problem quickly.”

“The problem might jus’ be turned into an advantage, Mr. Matherson,” Sung’s eye lingered on the device for just a bit longer than was, perhaps, prudent. “I’d say jus’ gain control o’ whatever’s causing the static an’ turn it off. Could be useful in the fuure, an’ their man on the inside could have some use ‘imself.”

Wyatt stepped to the door, pausing long enough to thank Matherson for his assistance before making his way out of the room.

Engine Rooms, Rocinante , 9:35 am PT

The captain didn't really have much to offer by way of what he thought was going on, so he tried his best to focus on the task of docking the shuttle. That meant not much in the way of conversation with Wolf and keeping his imagination at bay by needlessly running through the docking sequence. Once the shuttle had settled and the docking clamps were back in place, hit the comm again.

"Where are you, Willow? I'm back."

(Assuming a “in the engine room. Come quickly and bring Wolf")

There was no mistaking the urgency in Willow’s tone. With everything else that was going on that sense of pressure put fire to the captain’s heels. He made it to the engine room in no time with Wolf right on his heels. As they entered the room Wyatt heard the mechanic sniff like he was at Ma’s dinner table. The compression coil was gone, vanished except a whole lot of dust.

“Wo detain, a.” Captain Sung breathed as he stared at the empty space where his ship’s compression coil should be. The dust…Could that be the disintegrated coil? There was no use asking Wolf if they had a spare coil lying around. Wyatt was fairly familiar with parts inventory, and if he hadn’t been the mechanic’s reaction would have been telling enough. Wyatt also knew enough about Roc to know that they wouldn’t find the replacement part in the processor plant, or on the merc’s ASREV. They were definitely humped.

Eden’s voice came to him again in quiet chastisement. ”This isn’t the enemy knockin’ at your door right now, qin ài de. Focus on what’s in front of you.” It was a hard thing to fight against the pull of total and utter despair, but Eden’s ghost and the constant realization that his crew relied on him for stoic leadership won out in the tug-a-war.

“All right,” he chuckled. “So, this is zhen daomei. But what ain’t? This is our lot, right here, right now. Ain’t nothin’ can be done ‘bout this right now. But I tell ya what we are going to do. We’re going to move forward with our plan an’ try t’ trap these niao shi de dugui in such a way as t’ give us the edge. Once we’re good an’ sure that they ain’t going t’ chop off our tender bits no more...well, that’s when we turn our attention t’ these particulars. Dohn la ma?

“One last thing,” Sung put a calming hand on Willow’s shoulder. “I need you t’ speak with Matherson, Mei Mei. Let him know t’ be careful in his search for the device jammin’ our signal. Whoever’s got it ‘as likely as not is the one that’s done this fine job o’ ship surgery.”

Pointing at the dust, Captain Sung met the eyes of each of his crew--his family--for a moment. “If I were a betting man, I’d lay down odds tha’ this here patch o’ moondust is our missin’ coil, an’ that means whoever our mystery surgeon is likely has some sort o’ tech capable o’ disintegratin’ any amounts o’ who knows what. An’ that just seems like a helluvah way t’ die.”

His big speech aside, Sung wasn’t all too certain that Matherson wasn’t behind this whole thing. Using the man to seek out the perpetrator was as much a test as a desperate need for additional hands, but so far--aside from the mercenaries--he was the only one showing off any advanced Core tech. And that made him the most prime of suspects. This particular game of chess was really putting Wyatt’s skills to the test. He just hoped he wouldn’t be put in any situation where he’d be required to sacrifice a pawn. He was never good at determining one piece of his game as higher value than another, and hated that particular role of leadership beyond all others.

“Secure the engine room. Ain’t no one but crew t’ get inside, dohn ma?”

(OOC: Aside from the possibility of further conversation or questions, Wyatt will wrap the meeting up in the engine room and drag Wolf back to the shuttle to continue their mission.)

It wasn’t long after John replaced his comm in his pocket before it started transmitting Captain Wyatt’s voice for him to hear.

“I’ll be there shortly with some help. Any way t’ hook somethin’ up t’ the shuttle an’ airlift that thing out so we don’ have t’ carry it?”
John paused; he hadn’t really thought too much about removing the turbine from the Processor. At the current moment, he was more preoccupied with finding a suitable turbine and getting it disconnected from the fittings and such that would be holding it in place. However, now thinking about it, Wyatt’s thought process (and conclusion) was the most logical one.

John flipped on the comm, “Yes, I believe that is very feasible and probably the best method for removing it. I’ll keep you posted as I continue.”

Realizing he was wasting very precious time, John moved up to the ladder to the upper floor and then to the Jefferies tube that would give him the quickest access to Exhaust Outlet J. As he climbed up, moving from access junction to another tube he got a close view of the turbines and blowers that were contained within the building. Massive turbines designed to blow air and oxygen through the fragile atmosphere of the planet. Many of the turbines were already disconnected from their mounting, a sign that the company was planning on disassembling the processor soon.
Suddenly the immediate task in front of John didn’t seem quite so impossible; difficult, yes, but if the turbine was already disconnected, then it was a mere matter of just removing it from the facility and getting it down to Rocinate... Then installing it.

He didn’t dare get his hopes up too high, however, because it was possible that the company started working up from the bottom but didn’t quite make it to the top. As he climbed however, he began to hope despite himself.

When he finally reached the turbine, John nearly laughed. It was also disconnected.

“Captain Wyatt,” started John, flipping on his comm. “I’m currently at the turbine that we could use! Lady Luck has perhaps given us a little break, because it seems as though the company has already disconnected the turbine from the mountings. So the sooner you all arrive, the sooner we can begin to get this thing out of here.”

As Wolf sat in the back of the shuttle on its short hop to the Atmo Processor, Captain Wyatt flying, he was quiet as the captain fired up the engines. Within moments Wyatt had disengaged the docking clamps and started lifting the smaller vessel from its docking collar on Roc's side. The shuttle rose forty-feet into the air, and Wolf was pressed by the g-forces back into the cushioned seat.

The ship mechanic was anxious to get back to the Processor to unclamp the needed turbine and haul it back to the ship and finally hopefully fix the Rocinate‘s engine. However that plan for the moment was put on hold as Willow called from ship to shuttle. Though Wolf could only hear one side of the conversation he got the impression that it was not good.

"I'm in the shuttle with Wolf. We've just left Roc. Can this wait?"

(Silence)

"Well, tell me what's what then, Sheh Sheh."

(More silence)

"Alright, Mei Mei," Wolf at this point could feel the Captain turning the shuttle about and watched as he began to once again punch in the docking codes, only this time in reverse.
"I'm heading back now."

Though he wanted to ask WTF was going on he could tell by the captain’s quiet urgency that he did not want to relay that information just yet. Then they were re-docked and moving inside the Rocinante, Wolf following Wyatt to the engine room. What Wolf found there besides Miss Willow and Trish did not sit very well. A big sniff and Wolf’s eyes fell onto the compression coil or lack of it. Now except a whole lot of dust the coil was gone.

“Lao tyen, boo”(1) Wolf swore as he moved to his knees for a closer look he knew they were screwed. Thinking quick he counted down the possible places to score a new coil.

Ship’s stores = No
ASREV = No
Atmo Processor = No
A monkey’s a** = No

“Tzao-gao!”(2) Wolf muttered under his breath as he realized just how screwed they really were. Even if they could repair the ships turbine this was beyond his ability to fix without a coil and as far as he knew there were no such coils on planet. Unless there was
As he had been focused on the missing coil and how to fix it he had not been really listening to the conversation behind him. However as Wyatt started to it finish up his words caught Wolf’s attention.

“One last thing, I need you t’ speak with Matherson, Mei Mei. Let him know t’ be careful in his search for the device jammin’ our signal. Whoever’s got it ‘as likely as not is the one that’s done this fine job o’ ship surgery.”

Pointing at the dust, Captain Sung met the eyes of each of them for a moment. “If I were a betting man, I’d lay down odds tha’ this here patch o’ moondust is our missin’ coil, an’ that means whoever our mystery surgeon is likely has some sort o’ tech capable o’ disintegratin’ any amounts o’ who knows what. An’ that just seems like a helluvah way t’ die.”

“Captain that’s not possible there’s nothing that can vaporize objects like this. Maybe once on the earth that was but not now. Whatever this dust is I don’t think it’s the coil, I think whoever did this has the coil or hid it.”

Wyatt was quiet as Wolf stood up and dusted himself off of the mysterious dust, then came to a decisson.

“Secure the engine room. Ain’t no one but crew t’ get inside, dohn ma?”

With that Wolf followed Wyatt out of the engine room and back to the shuttle. As they boarded the transport once more Wolf could not help thinking to himself.
Some Ching-wah TSAO duh liou mahng hwoon dahn(3) was going to pay
(1) Oh, god, no.
(2) Damn it!
(3) Frog-humping s**ofab*****hing ba***rd

LV-426, Bridge, Rocinante, 9:20 am PT
Tess was setting up a remote switch in the cockpit when the scanner went off again. Whatever yi dwei da buen chuo roh had tried to remote signal was doing it again. The signal wouldn’t get through; once jammed, Tess had rigged it so it would keep that line scrambled. Whoever it was didn’t try for very long; Tess wasn’t able to pin down a location, but knew that it hadn’t come from inside the ship. They had probably gone down with the rest of the passengers to the cave.

On her way to the shuttle, Tess swung into her room to grab her rifle and harness.

No sense in not havin’ a little preparation.
By the time she had reached the shuttle, Wyatt was already in the pilot’s seat firing up the engines. It was, after all, his boat, but she regretted not being there before him. She flung herself into one of the passenger seats. Tess remained quiet, but fidgeted horribly. It never sat right with her, being a passenger. Her hands rapidly slid across the length of feather fixed in hair, and she tapped out a beat on the floor with her feet.

They had barely taken off when, "Captain-san, it's Willow. We need to speak. Urgently. Please respond with your location."

Her rifle harness creaked slightly as she looked over Wyatt’s shoulder.

Wyatt sighed and activated the comm unit, "I'm in the shuttle with Wolf. We've just left Roc. Can this wait?"

Whatever had happened, Willow sounded in a right state. Plus she didn’t want to go over the details over the air. Never a good sign.

“Purty typical, ain’t it? Leave yer boat for one gorram second,” Tess murmured, sitting back down in her seat.

"Alright, Mei Mei," Sung turned the shuttle about and punched in the docking codes. "I'm heading back now."

As soon as the docking clamps reengaged, Wyatt and Wolf stood and rushed out of the hatch. Tess made like she was going to follow, and then stopped.

“I’ll keep the engines warm!” she called out before plopping into the pilot’s chair. A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she double checked the instruments.

Black Bart looked at his command officers at the table and wondered how he got himself in this situation. He knew of course - money. It was a gorram frog-humping big pile of money.

“Are we in agreement?” He asked.

Marv drew heavily on his cigarette and blew the white smoke into the air. He was a huge man, tough as they could come and as ugly as well. “Sure. It could be fun. Still think we take the salvager, mag grab the ship and take off with it.”

“Except that if the case is in the ship or the violin without the case – it could be damaged. A damage violin means we don’t get paid. Remember Marv, gold buys beer.” Nancy replied in a cheerful manner. She always had a smile on her face and a pleasant thing to say. The fact that she was blond, gorgeous and could kill a man with her bare hands only made her more of an asset. “You know I am with you Lover.” She said with a wink to Bart.

“We are against 6? Maybe 7? Sounds like overkill with plastic guns and foul language, but I am good with the plan.” Dwight replied. A fast draw and good with both hands, the dark haired man like the ladies and gave Nancy a appreciative smile.

“Yeah.” Was all that Hartigan said. The oldest of the group, almost balding with some grey hair clinging to dear life on his head. He wasn;t looking for the payout – never was, just along for the ride and a hope that this time, Lady Death would meet him halfway.

Bart nodded, “Right. You men pick your teams. Nancy, get the ships ready for flight. You’ll be our best eyes and ears when we are on the ground Honeycream, so take the Falcon.”

“You got it Sweetheart.”

“Take Wilson with you.”

“Really? I work alone Bart.”

“Make an exception. He was there, knows the territory.”

“Alright. Sure. But if he can’t behave, I’m not responsible for my actions.”

“Alright. Dismissed. I want teams assembled in the launch within two hours.”

The team moved out of the room, looking to gather their men and prepare for the mission. Nancy held back with Bart until everyone had left. “Two hours? Seems leisurely.”

“Yeah but it gives us some alone time. Come here Babe. I can’t wait to get to our room.”

Hicks was asleep. Although sleeping on duty was a court marshalling offence, no one really pushed it because Hicks could go from sleep to full awareness in seconds. He had pulled comm. watch duty for the night which was usually a boring night of watching lights on the console. So he put his feet up, leaned back and snoozed.
*BEEP BEEP BEEP*

Hick awoke and looked at the controls. Incoming message, level 9 coded. He verified the code and then pushed the message through the appropriate decoding protocol. Once the message started coming out, he whistled through his teeth loudly and clicked the comm. on. “Colonel! Colonel! Incoming message from Sparrow. This is big sir.”

It wasn’t long before his commanding officer and the rest of his team arrived. Colonel Sanders, Corporal Hudson and Corporal Vasquez all filed into the room and shut the door. Hicks took the print out of the message and passed it to his white haired pale commander.

“You verified this?” he asked.

“Yes sir. Confirmed. We are not far out form the coordinates he gave either,”

“Who are we talking about?” Hudson asked in a loud voice.

“Shut up Hudson! A sparrow is an operative in a deep undercover operation. They only send a message when they have intel of a big fish. Someone they are assigned to catch.”

“Sounds fun. How do I sign up?”

“You’d need a brain transplant first Hudson.” Said Vasquez with a punch to Hudson’s shoulder

“Hey! I bruise easily”

“Be quiet all of you!” Sanders replied curtly. “Vasquez, get the ASREV ready. Here are the coordinates. Hicks, get high command on the line.”

“High command?” Hudson said in shock, “Who we gonna after?”

Sanders turned and smiled broadly, a sight that would scare the bravest of hearts. “Black Bart and the Heilong. They are moving on some stage two moon near Sihnon. Let’s go!”

Hudson raced after Hicks and Vasquez, “This better not be another bug hunt sir!”

Everything was comprised of pieces. There were pieces in Roc that kept her in the sky--pieces that were missing that meant they couldn’t fly--and pieces of each individual. The crew were pieces, the passengers of the Star were pieces, the available resources on the planet were pieces. Even the mercenaries were pieces, but the biggest piece on the board was Time. As he made his way back through Roc towards the shuttle Wyatt reflected on the pieces--all of the pieces.

The mercenaries were coming. Of that he was certain. They couldn’t pass up the barrel-shoot they’d arranged, and to them the crew of Roc weren’t much of a threat. So, it didn’t make sense for them to run, or even wait things out. They were most certainly going to be on the move, if they weren’t already. Then there were the patients that WIllow had to care for. Even Sifu was injured. Knowing Willow as he did, the captain was positive that he wasn’t going to be able to get her to leave their side for long; if even at all. The passengers were all wild cards and unpredictable. At least one of them was a mole feeding information off-planet, or trying to, and a sabator. Which led to the ship. Roc was dead in the water. Without the coil they wouldn’t be lifting off even if they did manage to repair the other damage. The only thing Roc was good for right now was shelter and a point of interest for the mercs. Then there was the crew...the crew…Bie Woo Long! The crew each only knew bits and pieces, and Wyatt had been so caught up in trying to stay on top of everything that he’d completely failed to include them in any of the planning process, let alone make sure that they all had an understanding of their roles.

Placing a hand on the steel beam to his left, Captain Sung stopped mid-step and allowed his head to drop for just a moment. Wolf was so close on his heels that the big man bumped into his right shoulder before stopping himself.

“Wolf,” Sung lifted his head and turned his tired eyes on the mechanic. “Go with Tess to get John. We don’t need that turbine anymore. Get back here as soon as possible and meet me in the kitchen.”

(OOC: Assuming there isn’t any argument.)

With Fenris and Tess on their way to collect John from the processor plant, Wyatt returned to find Willow and Ma. He wasn’t keen on using coms at this point in time just in case the enemy’s tech was good enough to intercept, so he relied on his booted feet to take him where he needed to be.

“Willow, Ma? If’n you got a minute t’ spare, I’m gatherin’ the crew to the kitchen for a bit of planning.”

(OOC: Once the crew is gathered…everyone but Jessy--sorry, trust still hasn’t been built so Wyatt will rely on Asher to relay to her what she needs to know.)

“First, let me just say that I’m sorry I didn’ do this sooner. Now onto the grit.

“My plan is t’ split the merc forces amongst multiple possible locations where the case could be buried. We’ve got them overly-bright boys buildin’ us some makeshift bombs t’ use at the sites. I want Asher and that grifter that was carryin’ one o’ them to scout out some good locations and set it up t’ look like we buried the case there. We’ll rig some o’ the explosives t’ blow into the faces o’ the mercs using tripwires.

“I’m scrappin’ the repairs on Roc jus’ now. WIthout that coil we can’t do nothin’. So we need t’ find a way t’ get off-planet an’ take the merc’s command ship. That has t’ be a long-range spacecraft, and once we do that we can pick up the parts we need fer Roc an’ come back for her. As I see it, this plan still has some loose ends. For one, someone is performin’ the espionage on Roc that’s put us dry an’ high. That person, or a team of people, is likely also tied int’ the mercs. Now, I’ve enlisted Matherson an’ his men t’ search these rats out--I know, I know,” Wyatt held up his hands to forestall any comments. “It’s as likely as not that Matherson is behind all this as well, but by placin’ him in charge o’ something we can hopefully figure out whether ‘r not this is the case. All the same, we got t’ be aware o’ this particular challenge.

“Second, we got t’ give the mercs reason to check all the sites at once so that they actually do split up. An’ third, we gotta figure out where to put the case. Finally, we gotta figure out how t’ hijack tha’ ASREV, make it back to the base ship, an’ take that from highly-trained, blood-thirsty mercenaries.

“Aside from those minor points,” Wyatt scanned the faces before him. “I was figurin’ on Ma an’ Willow stayin’ with the patients in the medbay. Sifu is with the passengers, but I don’t like jus’ leavin’ the li’l guy alone with that lot. But we’re gonna need all the guns we got here when it comes right down to it. So, I’m open to suggestions. Because right now, I’m about t’ send Tess and--what’s-her-name?--Jessy?--to the caves t’ back Sifu up, an’ make sure Matherson an’ his boys stay in line. That’d leave me, Asher, Wolf, John, an’ Ma t’ take care of whatever firefight erupts here when the mercs show. So, if’n anyone has any better ideas, now’s the time t’ speak up, because Time...well, she ain’t on our side.”

The exodus to the caves was not a easy trek, even though it was only a little more than a mile. For the monk, even his training in mediation and harmony were strained to the limit as he listened to everyone around him complaining all the way. Portia Amber going on about how no one seemed to care that she'd been slapped and electrocuted and did they know who she was?! The Queen Bea and her clutch of young Heathers all chattering along the way about how long a hike it was, how the rocky terrain was hurting their feet, and the terrible impoliteness of the crew for not giving them a lift.

But it was Lord Hood that had changed the most in Sifu's eyes. Before he was acting confident and being a leader to these people, he was now very irritable and snappish. All the way to the caves he was muttering to himself about Havelock jumping in front of the mercenary and taking the bullets. He was completely shook up by the action of the man. It had caused an internal struggle with the Lord and it was not being reconciled easily. But it was taking away a driving force behind the passengers that was sorely needed.

The cave was not hard to find and (luckily) not too much of a climb upwards. The terraformers use giant water jets to carve the cave out in the first stages, and it is made to be accessible to the equipment. without too much hardship. The entrance looked plain enough but once with the rock, there were signs of deep groves in the floor and ceiling. This would have been where the steel doors that formed an airlock would have been, as there was no atmosphere during stage 1. But as he ran his hand along the groove, Sifu felt metal still within the stone. As they moved in further, the controls for the doors were enbedded with the rock, and lights were still flashing on the panels.

Lord Hood looked at Sifu in surprise, "Power?"

The monk shook his head, not knowing anything about the mechanics of terraformers or environment containment. He pushed a button labeled "main doors closure". An alarm sounded so loudly that the passengers jumped at it.

"WARNING - Main airlock closing in ten seconds. Nine. Eight ..."

The voice counted down and at zero, the steel doors moved quickly across the entrance way to seal off the caves. As soon as the doors closed, lights came on with the tunnels and the sounds of fans turning could be heard.

OOC: The caves have a power supply and are still operational with a self contain life support system.

LV-426, Shuttle Docked on Rocinante, 9:45 PT
Tess drummed her fingers impatiently on the console as she waited. It was taking longer than she liked. Her goggles were pushed back onto her head, and she toyed with the engine shutdown sequence. Tess resisted the urge to buzz the comm. system; she held faith in her captain to let her know if something was amiss.

Whatever Willow wanted, it had better be good. Hate sittin’ here like a duck on a pond.
The trail of passengers was just visible through the window of the shuttle. It was always hard when innocent civilians got involved in fighting. Hopefully those caves would provide at least some cover when things got messy.

Wolf strode quickly into the shuttle. Tess could tell by the scowl on the man’s face that it was bad.

“How bad?”

((Assume a blunt answer here from Wolf, plus news about the coil.))

“Lio coh jwei ji neong hur ho deh yung duh buhn jah j’wohn!” the pilot spat.

Innocent civilians my left foot.
((Assume orders to go grab John))

“Alright, handsome, sit yer tush down and strap in. We ain’t wasting no more time on this ni nio ru hai,” Tess said flatly, snapping her goggles down over her eyes. Wolf barely had a chance to latch his belt before Tess had released the safety clamps and hovered away from Rocininate. She kissed the tooth that hung around her neck and slammed down the throttle. The shuttle craft rocketed towards the processor.

Tess buzzed John’s multiband, “Drop whatcher doing, John. We’re comin’ to getcha. Change of plans.”

“I swear on the Three Jewels that I will personally shakedown every of those tian di wu yohn passengers fer our girl’s missin’ coil,” Tess growled, “Might’n be wantin’ yer help in that, Wolf. Up fer crackin’ skulls?” She pulled up hard on the shuttle, kicking up a cloud of dust as she settled the craft down.

“In the meanwise, could ya’ll go nab our boy?”