In the cargo bay, Wolf watched as the mercenaries moved back out of the ship leaving their dead and wounded behind and amazingly not returning fire. Wolf wasting no time went down onto one knee, and steadying the AR opened fire at the retreating men. As he did this he kept his eyes moving all the time hunting the old mercenary. But they were retreating and hotfooting off the ship like rats off a sinking ship. He could hear them running.

His shots as accurate as possible he saw a few take hits as they retreated. However Wolf got a sudden bad feeling in his gut about this, something was not right why all of a sudden stop attacking? Then it hit him and the mechanic’s fear was justified as he picked a comm link from a dead enemy and put it to his ear. “

... Repeat pull back immediately. We have location of violin. You may go live and deal with hostiles with extreme prejudice.”

“Ung Jeong Jia Ching Jien Soh.*”
Wolf muttered under his breath as he realized that if the mercs were running from the ship, then something was about to happen to the ship. At that point, Jon’s message came through his comm. “The mercernaries should have a very bad headache right now. Hopefully debilitating. Best I can do make use of it. *sputter* *sputter* *Fhooosh* “Ummm ... Not sure how long it will last so you may wish to act in haste!!”

Ching-wah TSAO duh liou mahng**…. “John get off the ship now! They are going to destroy it. They know the Violin is not here. Move your ass now!”

Wolf hated to leave John or the ship but knew staying aboard could see him dead. Within seconds he was quickly running off the Rocinante. Slinging the JC across his back, he drew his machine pistols, tracking as best he could any new targets. Heading for a good distance from the ship with decent cover the mechanic hopped to survive a possible losing firefight.

* Filthy fornicators of livestock
**"frog-humping sonofab----"

The Battle, Wyatt and Havelock in Shuttle 2 LV-426, 1:05 pm PT

There was a part of him that sung the song of a hero about to be laid to rest. It was a joyful, and yet sorrowful, melody that played a long, slow hum in the back of his consciousness as he walked purposefully towards the undying mercenary unloading two more shells from the chamber of his shotgun. Not only did Sung realize that he wouldn’t be able to beat this behemoth in a hand-to-hand melee, but he was positive he was about to die trying to bring the man down. He didn’t fear death. Not like some. Ever since the loss of his wife and daughter, Wyatt Sung had been trying to meet Death in one form or another headlong with a set jaw and a determined, narrow-eyed stare. It would end the hollowness that ate him up at night--the emptiness that had driven him to drink before there was those that brung him back to life each morning. Before Ma had become part of his crew. Before Willow had shown him that love could be something other than what he’d shared with Summer. Before Sam had shown him that there was others that were family.

Now Sam was lost to the Black. Ma and Asher was likely dead in that shuttle that’d gone down. Wolf was just as likely bleeding out in the cargo bay of the disabled ship. Willow, John, Tess… they were likely all dead or dying and it was this mountain’s doing--at least he was a part of it. And it frustrated the hell out of Wyatt that the merc just wouldn’t lie down and die!

Wyatt pulled up on the shotgun and reached for his pocket to thumb another couple of shells back into the shotgun just as the monstrosity in a trenchcoat sprung forward like a jackrabbit and ferociously charged at Captain Sung, apparently done with the casual pace they were setting on killing each other. Instinct took control and the Independent spun to the right, rolling to his right knee and back up again; spinning away from the rapid fire barrage the mercenary was laying down. The move ended with Sung gliding to his booted feet once more, his browncoat wrapping about his legs from the momentum, but it had cost Wyatt the opportunity to reload, and the black-garbed enemy wasn’t letting up.

Suddenly, gunfire erupted from behind the Captain and the giant man staggered back under a hail of bullets. Wyatt turned his head to see Tess was there with an assault rifle, alongside her was another woman he had never seen before, also opening up on the merc. And the huge man finally fell to the ground.

Wyatt drew in a slow breath and raised his left eyebrow at Tess’ timely arrival before he walked over to the fallen man.

“Is that all you got?” the mercenary coughed through bloody spittle.

Wyatt looked him in the eye and leveled his newly reloaded shotgun at the man’s forehead. “It’s enough,” he answered before pulling the trigger and ending the reign of terror.

Just then, the comm activated and John’s voice called out, “The mercenaries should have a very bad headache right now. Hopefully debilitating. Best I can do, make use of it. *sputter* *sputter* *Fhooosh* “Ummm ... Not sure how long it will last so you may wish to act in haste!!”

Nancy called out, “Look who is here. Late as always.”

Wyatt heard the protest of engines as an ASREV plunged downwards out of the sky. It was falling fast, real fast, maybe too fast; but it managed to right itself and then the auto-cannon opened up on the Corvette with tight precise bursts. From the belly of the Fed ship, two figures jumped to the ground in full battle armour but were lost to the view behind Rocinante.

Tess ran to check on Havelock but he was coming around as she did. As Wyatt looked on he heard something on his comm, “...---...---...“

“Ma,” he breathed with a sense of relief and the strange sensation of hope creeping through his battered chest. Wincing a bit as he turned from the gruesome pile of flesh at his feet, Sung rushed back towards the mule as fast as he could. “Tess we gotta go! Ma and Ash went down in that shuttle, but that’s Ma telling us she’s alive.”

Reaching the mule Captain Sung quickly sized Havelock up. “We’ll get you patched up as soon as we can get back t’ Willow, Puhn yoh. You got my word.” Wyatt began helping Havelock into the back seat, accepting whatever assistance Tess and the newcomer offered.

“That ASREV belongs t’ your people I’m assumin’,” he said through teeth he was gritting against the pain his muscles were complaining of as he helped move the gutsy man from the driver’s seat. Looking up at the new woman he paused for just a moment before taking Havelock’s place behind the controls. “We’re mighty appreciative of the heroics the lot o’ ya are showin’. I trust this is a rescue mission fer the high an’ mighties we got shored up, but yer timing couldn’t have been more spot on.”

That said, Captain Sung gunned the mule in the direction of the downed shuttle and what he hoped would be two survivors.

As Willow turned the corner of the cave corridor to the conjugal rooms, she almost ran into Cameron.

“Willow!” Thank Buddha I found you.” He said, relief appearing beneath the mask of fear on his face. It was fear of dying in his eyes but Willow saw genuine concern for her there as well. “Sifu needs you. There are soldiers right outside the cave entrance! He thinks they are blasting their way in.”

Willow tried to ignore the dismay in her heart, but didn’t worry about it showing on her face; only a fool wouldn’t be dismayed at the prospect of soldiers at the door. Instead, she reminded herself that Cameron had known her as a flighty young innocent, but she’d learned a great deal about the world in the meantime. She gave a helpless little shake of the head before exclaiming, “ I got so turned around back here in the gloom of these caves! Did Matheson pass you? I’d asked him to find those clever youngsters to see if they could help me get a message out.”

(OOC: after discussion with DM for Cameron’s reaction…)

Cameron looked puzzled at the question, looking back the way he came before returning his gaze back to Willow’s. “No…no, I didn’t see him…that’s strange. I don’t know how he got passed me…but what do you need?”

Willow had been watching his expression covertly, but his puzzlement seemed genuine…he’d not been the one to confront and kill Matheson – she was almost certain. To be sure, she idly waved at the communication console and continued,” I wanted to see if we could get a message out. Maybe those boys could figure a way past the block.”

If Cameron had wanted to get at the violin, and know where it was, this would have been the opening he needed, but he barely glanced at the console.

“I don’t know that it matters, my dear,” He responded, trying to lead Willow back to the main area,” I think whatever was done to jam the cortex is gone – we heard everyone’s security tags go off as they were about to connect. If you wanted to call for help, dearie, it’s already on its way to every rich person’s distress signal. We just have to survive these soldiers. Can we please go, now?”

Willow let herself be led away, satisfied that Cameron seemed all that he appeared to be. As they headed back to the main cavern, Cameron leaned in confidentially to Willow.

“Listen, about earlier. I know I’ve already apologized and you said I didn’t have to, but, well, dammit, I’m embarrassed and worried. I’m trying to rebuild my life and reputation…I can’t have something like this get out and ruin me again.”

Despite her misgivings about seeing Cameron again, the worry in his voice touched her. She squeezed his arm reassuringly,” I have no reason to speak of it to anyone, and Amber’s eager to put the episode behind her, too. Maybe Portia Amber may want to make a fuss, but this can could reflect badly on her, too. I don’t think you have cause to worry…besides, we have to survive the soldiers, right?”

Willow quickened her pace so that now it was Cameron hurrying to keep up with her. She reached the main cavern and began looking for Sifu.

The Battle, Asher near Rocinante and destroyed shuttle LV-426, 1:15 pm PT
Vasques pulled a med from its casing. She applied a Foam Sealant spray to Asher’s wounds to stop the bleeding. Then she pulled out a hypo-spray while drawing out a vial. Slipping the vial into the holder she shot three consecutive doses into Asher’s neck.

*PAFF*
*PAFF*
*PAFF*

Within seconds the surge passed through the body. “Oh yeah…that’s it.” Asher Said, “Thank you Lieutenant…I’ll be back as soon a Ma is safe, save some of that Yi Dwei Da Buen Chuo Roh for me.. I gotta score to settle.”

Vasques looked at the bodies oozing blood from the bullets Asher had put through their skulls, “Well you got a good start.. hurry back we need a shot like you. Here!” She handed the foam and the hypospray to Asher, "In case your Ma needs it. Just plug and play, you know what I mean."

The kid nodded, then headed double time back to the shuttle.

Whatever the fed had given worked wonders on Asher's system. The pain from his wounds were gone and he felt like he had energy again. Of course, he knew he'd pay for it later. Right now, he was running to the shuttle and still hearing the signal from Ma.

Behind him, there was an explosion and a burst of auto-cannon fire. he looked behind him to see something had separated from the Corvette and it was going down while the smaller craft was moving up. But he did not have time for that and there was little he could do. As he approached the shuttle wreckage, he couldn't see how she could have been in there and survived. Ash looked around frantically think of where he'd dive for cover if the situation was reversed. There was a ridge of hard rock close by so he went there.

A pink figure laid under the remains of the front of the shuttle. Part of the wreckage had pinned her down on her right leg but the debris from the shuttle probably shielded her from the blast of the missiles. Asher ran to her but as he did, he heard something behind him, the slight drag of a boot on dirt.

(Assuming Asher is not looking to talk)

Asher drew both guns and spun to see the leader he had faced on the field behind him. Even with his gun drawn and not hampered by the brain worm, Asher proved to be faster. He shot the gun out of his hand first, then fired a barrage of bullets into the chest, and the last shot going through the merc's neck. He fell back, gasping and bleeding out from the wound.

The Battle, Inside but moving outside of Rocinante, LV-426, 1:15 pm PT
“John get off the ship now! They are going to destroy it. They know the Violin is not here. Move your ass now!” Wolf hated to leave John or the ship but knew staying aboard could see him dead. Within seconds he was quickly running off the Rocinante. Slinging the JC across his back, he drew his machine pistols, tracking as best he could any new targets. Heading for a good distance from the ship with decent cover the mechanic hopped to survive a possible losing firefight.

"Umm. No can do Fenris *Foosh* Foosh*" John replied, "Tell Willow I'm sorry about her infirmary. duì bù qǐ guǎi mǎ jiǎo! *Foosh* Oh Gorram it to hell!"

Wolf ran out the cargo bay hatch to see a man in Fed Marshall battle armour taking out mercs with a energy pulse machine gun. The mercs were all falling down grasping their heads in pain so whatever John had done was working. The Fed looked over at him and screamed "On your left!"

Wolf turned his head and threw himself to the right out of instinct and it served him well. The soldier with the cannon of a handgun had been lining him up within his sights but the timely dodge saved Wolf's life. The mechanic opened up on the old man with both machine guns and this time, he had no bulkhead to hide behind. The hail of bullets took him down hard and Wolf did not let up for a second until both clips were empty.

The Fed ran up to him, still shooting at the remaining enemies, "You crew? That was totally badass! you hurt? Where is the rest of the crew? Found a blond kid who went off to find his ma." The man asked questions rapidly but still watched the battlefield with a trained eye. "Vasques! I got another live one. Guy just killed a boss big time - game over man!" He clicked his comm mike once, "Colonel! Something is humping these guys brains hard. Ain't fighting back, clinging to their heads like my ex on a date night."


The Battle,Nancy, Tess, Wyatt and Havelock LV-426, 1:15 pm PT
"Tess we gotta go! Ma and Ash went down in that shuttle, but that’s Ma telling us she’s alive.”

Reaching the mule Captain Sung quickly sized Havelock up. “We’ll get you patched up as soon as we can get back t’ Willow, Puhn yoh. You got my word.” Wyatt began helping Havelock into the back seat, accepting whatever assistance Tess and the newcomer offered. To his surprise though, Havelock nods sharply and moves on his own to the back seat.

"Don't Worry about me Captian. Just winded".

"Let me check you anyway, "The Blonde lady said as she sat beside the old warrior and opened the med kit she was hauling.

“That ASREV belongs t’ your people I’m assumin’,” Wyatt said through teeth he was gritting against the pain his muscles were complaining of as he helped move the gutsy man from the driver’s seat. Looking up at the new woman he paused for just a moment before taking Havelock’s place behind the controls. “We’re mighty appreciative of the heroics the lot o’ ya are showin’. I trust this is a rescue mission fer the high an’ mighties we got shored up, but yer timing couldn’t have been more spot on.”

"Name is Callahan, Nancy Callahan Federal Marshall. I was deep uncover with this guys, buy decided blowing cover was more important than a whole lot of people dying." She gave Havelock a shot of something with the spray and looked at his wounds but he brushed her off.

"Doing dandy young lady. I remember once on Hera I took a lot more rounds than this and still made tea for the unit afterward. Steady on."

That said, Captain Sung gunned the mule in the direction of the downed shuttle and what he hoped would be two survivors. Nancy shifted positions with Tess and hit the Captain with the spray as well, "This is what Marv there was hyped on so I don't want to give you more than one. " The Captain immediately felt the pain dissipate and alertness return to his mind. "We need to get to that transmitter you fellow john is building. I have the codes to most of these men. We can end this quick."

As Wyatt sped his way to the ship, there were mercs on the ground, crawling and writhing in pain and agony. Whatever John had done, it seemed to be working. Nancy leans over and says quietly, "Listen, I have no idea how this guy is still moving. His vest is destroyed and he is bleeding from multiple wounds."

A soldier in Federal Marshall marker and battle armour was moving near the front of Rocinante, using a huge gun to mow down the remaining mercenaries. She looked over your way but seemed to sum you up as not a threat. Just as you are pulling up, there is an explosion from Corvette. A smaller vessel disengages from the hull and heads upward as the corvette lists sharply and starts to descend rapidly.

"No! No! He can't gorram escape!" Nancy shouted up at the ship. "Take him out! Take him out now!"

The Battle, Victoria Class Corvette Zhuósàng, LV-426, 1:15 pm PT
Bart swore loudly as he tried to target the ASREV. They took out his weapon controls . So he tried to pull back and get away and they took out the flight controls. "Aaaah!" he yelled at no one, "Stop shooting holes in my gorram ship!"

Suddenly the violin and all the money promised seemed like a weight around his neck and he wasn't willing to be dragged down. He flipped a switch and spoke into the computer interface, "Self-destruct activate. Code Bart Zero Zero Zero Bart." Without a look to the crew he was leaving behind, and headed for his personal shuttle.

It was ready and waiting for him when he reached the controls, as part of the self destruct sequence it activated automatically. He jumped into the control seat and pushed the engines for max lift-off. With some luck, he could clear Atmo before they realized the corvette was gonna blow.

The Battle, Federal Marshall ASREV, LV-426, 1:15 pm PT
"Sir, I getting a high power flux for their core." Hicks reported.

"What?" Sanders looked at his console. "Gorram it! They wouldn't! Can you kill the core?"

The Shuttle disengaged from the corvette rapidly.

"Sir! They are rabbiting! I can't do the core and take the shuttle."

"Damn them! Take the core out or we are all dead!!!!"

LV-426, The Caves 1:00 pm PT
Willow entered the main command area of the caves with Cameron. Sifu was there along with Jessie, Lord Hood and the Boys from before. Sifu nodded to Willow, " there are men setting up a rocket launcher outside our doorway." he said pointing at the camera monitor on the wall. "We just got an odd message from them. They said that they received our message and if we give them the violin, they will take it and go without harming anyone." Sifu shrugged, "but we did not send them any message."

"Does it matter," Lord Hood asked, "I don't see how we have much choice. Obviously they have defeated Captain Wyatt and his men. We can't hold them off. We are out gunned and out-manned." he looked around at everyone with sad eyes seeming to accept a defeat. "I will volunteer to take the case to them. A man in my position is more valuable alive than dead."

The stimulant in the Lieutenant had given Ash did the trick, the pain was gone. The kid took the med supplies and hot footed toward the smoking shuttle. A side effect of the stimulant was that it had Asher’s libido roaring too. He could think of several ways to show Lieutenant Vasques how to peel off that body armor to revil her “Big Guns”, then she’d learn what the crew of the “Naughty” could do.

The pulse over the comm shock the kid back to reality and focus his concentration on getting to Trish. Behind him cam e the sounds of explosion and auto-cannon fire. A quick glance and he saw the Corvette going down as something separated from it. The kid didn’t have time for that battle at the moment and closed on the shuttle remains. From what he saw he knew that there was nothing inside that shell, but signal still kept coming. Asher scanned the area quickly to see if there might be some other pieces laying around. There behind some of the hilly stuffy wuffy was the remains of the front of the shuttle. Peeking out front under was Trish’s pink hood cape. Trish had survived but her leg was pinned under the metal. Asher rushed to help her but as moved her the drag of a boot in the gravel ground behind him.

The hypo-spray had also heightened his senses and reaction. In clean quick move the gun slinger spun and drew the Peacekeepers. There behind him gun drawn was big man that had nearly killed him before Vasques had showed up. Much like the gun battle he had survived in the mine the mind was crystal clear and his actions were smooth fury. His drawn pistols roared before the big man could squeeze his trigger. The floor of lead sent the big gun flying and marched up the mercenary’s chest. The man fell back as the last drove his neck ripping flesh and bone as it exited. The dust settled around the corpus as a large pool of blood coursed over the dried ground.

Asher holstered his guns and ran back to Trish. Taking care he checked her injuries and bound her wounds and gave her a single dose of pain killer. She could see the tracks in the dusty dirt on the young man’s cheeks as he dug her leg free of the wreckage. Asher pulled her clear and as he gently settled her on the hill side Trish wiped the dirt from the kids face so no one else would see.

Asher keyed his comm, “Ma is safe, I’m leaving her here near the shuttle……….I need to get to the caves.” Asher prepared to head back the help Vasques when Trish grabbed his sleeve and pointed to pink shotgun laying in the dirt. The grabbed the gun and when he turned Ma was limping toward him there with her hand out. He just knew she wasn’t going to stay put.

The Battle outside Rocinante, LV-426, 1:15 pm PT
"John get off the ship now! They are going to destroy it. They know the Violin is not here. Move your ass now!"

"Umm. No can do Fenris *Foosh* Foosh*" John replied, "Tell Willow I'm sorry about her infirmary. du¨¬ b¨´ q¨« gu¨£i m¨£ ji¨£o! *Foosh* Oh Gorram it to hell!"

Wolf ran out the cargo bay hatch with both machine pistols in hand still looking for the Meh, tah mah duh hwoon dahn* with the big caliber handgun he had traded fire with inside the bay. Scanning quickly his attention was caught by the sight of a man in the armor of a Federal Marshall taking out mercs with a energy pulse machine gun. With the mercs all falling down grasping their heads in pain the Fed was having an easy time of it. Just then the Fed looked over at him and screamed "On your left!"

Not waiting to see what was to his left Wolf threw himself to the right out of instinct and it served him well. The big gun Mercenary Wolf had been looking for had been lining him up within his sights but the timely dodge saved the mechanics life. Rolling up on one knee Wolf let fly with both MP's watching as the hail of bullets as he emptied both clips tore the merc apart.

Standing, Wolf holstered both MP's as he approached the downed merc and brought the JC back into his hands. Reaching the clearly dead merc, Wolf took the JC, pointed it at mercs forehead, and pulled the trigger once.

"Yippee-ki-yay Motherf..... That's for Slash and Hack"

Turning to head deeper into the conflict to find the rest of his crewmates, he found himself instead face to face with the Federal Marshal as the man ran up to him.

"You crew? That was totally badass! you hurt? Where is the rest of the crew? Found a blond kid who went off to find his ma." ASH! the kid was alive and looking for Trish. Wolf thought to himself in joy.

"Vasques! I got another live one. Guy just killed a boss big time - game over man!" He clicked his comm mike once, "Colonel! Something is humping these guys brains hard. Ain't fighting back, clinging to their heads like my ex on a date night."

"Yeah I'm crew, mechanic, that's a brain jamming signal from the ship, you can thank us later" Wolf told the hyper Marshal before him. "Which way did the blonde kid go?"

Once told Wolf reloaded both MP's and the JC and headed off in that direction determined to find the rest of the Rocinante's crew..............

Willow entered the main cavern with Cameron close at her heels to find Sifu with Jessie, Lord Hood and the young men who’d been devastatingly helpful. Sifu quickly told her about the men outside, and the message they’d relayed.

Lord Hood was quick to dismiss the relevance of the mercs responding to a message no-one seemed to have sent, and volunteered to go out with the case. His manner was weary and defeated, but if Willow had had any lingering doubts about the mole, his willingness to go out with the case decided her.

“Oh no!” Willow shook her head emphatically, then softened her tone, working her voice and body language as deftly any musician would play their instrument.

“Lord Hood, you’ve…you’ve done too much already… I cannot ask this of you. The case is useless without the man who can open it, and even if your wealth and stature were enough to protect you, that poor violinist would be dead the moment the case was open.”

Willow stared off into space a moment as if considering, but her words were already prepared.

“In fact, I’m not sure your status would be enough protection, my Lord. These are, “mercs” I believe the term is, and all they care about is money. I’m sure whoever hired them made very sure to do so through many intermediaries, so as to not put himself into their hands. I’m afraid they would hold you long enough to make you transfer considerable wealth to them, and then you’d disappear.”

“No,” she shook her head as if only just deciding, and straightened her shoulders, “ no one is going out there. Help is on its way, with everyone’s personal beacons pinging the cortex, so we just have to wait them out. Let’s give them a reason to not knock our doors down, shall we?”

With that, she pulled out Matheson’s PADD (watching Hood out of the corner of her eyes for a reaction) and thumbed it to life. Setting the message to wide broadcast, she tapped while reading the words out loud,” The case has been placed behind the door, blast it open at your own risk.”

"Name is Callahan, Nancy Callahan Federal Marshall. I was deep uncover with these guys, but decided blowing cover was more important than a whole lot of people dying." She gave Havelock a shot of something with the spray and looked at his wounds but he brushed her off.

"Doing dandy young lady. I remember once on Hera I took a lot more rounds than this and still made tea for the unit afterward. Steady on."

Wyatt knew he should be more concerned with Havelock's condition. Something in the back of the captain's mind flickered like a near dead light bulb that was akin to a very real concern for the stalwart soldier, but it was deep, deep in the dark due to Wyatt's completely engulfing sense of worry for his crew.

That said, Captain Sung gunned the mule in the direction of the downed shuttle and what he hoped would be two survivors. Nancy shifted positions with Tess and hit the Captain with the spray as well, "This is what Marv there was hyped on so I don't want to give you more than one. " The Captain immediately felt the pain dissipate and alertness return to his mind. "We need to get to that transmitter your fellow John is building. I have the codes to most of these men. We can end this quick."

Again, Sung found himself being forced to go against his immediate urge to seek out and verify the conditions of those he cared about. Eliminate the threat first. Then check for survivors. If I don't kill them that's aimin' t' kill mine then there's not likely t' be any o' mine left.
As Wyatt sped his way to the ship, there were mercs on the ground, crawling and writhing in pain and agony. Whatever John had done, it seemed to be working. Nancy leans over and says quietly, "Listen, I have no idea how this guy is still moving. His vest is destroyed and he is bleeding from multiple wounds."

Wyatt acknowledged her admission with a brief glance, nothing more. He'd known some pretty tough soldiers in the War, but looking back they all ended up dying just as easy as the next browncoat. What was keeping Havelock upright? What was keeping him coming back for more? What was it he'd mumbled just before he had lost consciousness back there? How'd it all tie together? Sung resolved to clear his mind of worry and focus on the here and now. That's how he'd survived the war...that's how he'd survived having his heart ripped out of his chest back when he'd discovered Eden and Summer. Gotta keep them all in my line o' sight, he determined.

A soldier in Federal Marshall marker and battle armour was moving near the front of Rocinante, using a huge gun to mow down the remaining mercenaries. She looked over your way but seemed to sum you up as not a threat. Just as you are pulling up, there is an explosion from Corvette. A smaller vessel disengages from the hull and heads upward as the corvette lists sharply and starts to descend rapidly.

"No! No! He can't gorram escape!" Nancy shouted up at the ship. "Take him out! Take him out now!"

He could empathize. He didn't want a single one of these mercy escaping justice. But at that moment he had no way of stopping an airborne vessel, so Sung pulled the mule right up into the cargo bay, past the gunner sweeping up, and leapt from the seat, immediately working to reload his weapons.

"John's in the infirmary. You wanna stop these bastards, that's the best way for it." Wyatt stepped back from the mule to allow Havelock room to disembark. "Besides, this gentleman warrior could use some patchin' up. C'mon Havelock. Let's see about some bandages."

(OOC: Wyatt's not going to let Havelock or the newcomers at his back, but will direct them ahead of him to the infirmary. Once there he'll work to always keep them in his line of sight with the loaded shotgun in hand and his reloaded Colt ready on his hip.)

The Battle, Inside Rocinante, LV-426, 1:30 pm PT
Wolf was about to go out of the ship and seek out Asher when Sung pulled the mule right up into the cargo bay, past the gunner sweeping up, and leapt from the seat, immediately working to reload his weapons. the Marshall nodded to Wolf, "You take care of your own. I got people to kill, places to be.' And he headed back out to the fields.

As wolf approached the mule, he heard over his comm (As does Wyatt) "“Ma is safe, I’m leaving her here near the shuttle……….I need to get to the caves.”

"John's in the infirmary. You wanna stop these bastards, that's the best way for it." Wyatt stepped back from the mule to allow Havelock room to disembark. "Besides, this gentleman warrior could use some patchin' up. C'mon Havelock. Let's see about some bandages."

"Pish Posh!" Havelock said pushing himself upright and away from the Captain. "I am fine. Well I remember ..."

Suddenly the sound of gunfire erupted from above. Steady, non-stop rounds from the auto cannon of the ASREV mixed in with the ricochet of some rounds of the hull of the ship. Good thing that they captain had pulled inside when he did but there was nothing to do but duck down and wait for the cascade of bullets to end. There was a terrible whirring noise and then the sound of metal ripping apart.

Then there was an awful crash. Louder than the gunfire and the force of the impact caused the ship to jump and shift, knocking everyone to their feet. Despite the damage and beating that Rocinante had taken, it stayed upright and the landing gear held against the shock.

Once the ground stopped moving, Every stood up except Havelock who was no bleeding badly again. Nancy grabbed one arm of old soldier while Tess took the other. Wyatt looked at Wolf with a expression that spoke volume. The mechanic put his hand on his weapon and nodded to show the Captain he understood the sentiment - Trust no one.

As they turned around the corner, the smell of burnt equipment filled their noses and then as they approached the infirmary - they saw the quarantine doors were sealed. Nancy ran to the doors, leaving Tess with Havelock and looked inside but what she saw made her shake her head. "Captain? I think this was one of yours." she said is a quiet voice.

Wyatt ran to the doorway of the infirmary and looked in. There had been a fire within, the walls and table were scorched and blackened. On the floor was John, not moving. He had fallen on top of a cable running between the wall and the receiver that John had set up. In a glance, Wyatt knew what had happened. The cables had caught fire, the fire repression system had activated in the infirmary and started pumping out the air. John, know that the cables would not hold, fell on them so the circuit wasn't lost. John gave his life to keep the mercenaries down.

The Battle, Asher near Rocinante and destroyed shuttle LV-426, 1:15 pm PT
Asher keyed his comm, “Ma is safe, I’m leaving her here near the shuttle……….I need to get to the caves.” Asher prepared to head back the help Vasques when Trish grabbed his sleeve and pointed to pink shotgun laying in the dirt. The grabbed the gun and when he turned Ma was limping toward him there with her hand out. He just knew she wasn’t going to stay put.

Then all hell broke loose. The ASREV opened up with full auto cannons on the corvette, taking out the back engines with a vengeance. Asher wasted no time and dove for cover, taking Ma down with him and dragging her under the debris of the shuttle. The ASVRE was bent on destroying the engine core of the corvette and it seemed to work as the large ship came down fast and hard. The impact shook the ground beneath them like an earthquake. Asher looked up and over at Rocinante expecting the landing struts to buckle but the old workhouse held steady as if an angel was watching over it.

LV-426, The Caves 1:30 pm PT
“Lord Hood, you’ve…you’ve done too much already… I cannot ask this of you. The case is useless without the man who can open it, and even if your wealth and stature were enough to protect you, that poor violinist would be dead the moment the case was open.”

Willow stared off into space a moment as if considering, but her words were already prepared. Just as she was about to speak, she got a message from her comm from Asher, "“Ma is safe, I’m leaving her here near the shuttle……….I need to get to the caves.”. Willow repressed her smile at the good news and continued.

“In fact, I’m not sure your status would be enough protection, my Lord. These are, “mercs” I believe the term is, and all they care about is money. I’m sure whoever hired them made very sure to do so through many intermediaries, so as to not put himself into their hands. I’m afraid they would hold you long enough to make you transfer considerable wealth to them, and then you’d disappear.”

“No,” she shook her head as if only just deciding, and straightened her shoulders, “ no one is going out there. Help is on its way, with everyone’s personal beacons pinging the cortex, so we just have to wait them out. Let’s give them a reason to not knock our doors down, shall we?”

With that, she pulled out Matheson’s PADD (watching Hood out of the corner of her eyes for a reaction) and thumbed it to life. Setting the message to wide broadcast, she tapped while reading the words out loud,” The case has been placed behind the door, blast it open at your own risk.”

The reaction was very brief, but it was enough to shatter any doubts Willow had of who was the mole. Lord hood eyes flickered to the PADD and for a second she saw fear in his eyes - fear that he had made a mistake.

Lord Hood moved quickly and suddenly, grabbing Jessie and producing a handgun that he held up pointing at the young lady's head. "That is enough Doctor." He said coldly, "This is a very powerful gun and I am sure you don't want to watch this girl die slowly as her inners dissolve. Time for games are over now. You will get me the violin now!"

There was a brief moment of tension, Jessie looked not so scared as pissed off. The boys took a step back, Sheldon fainted.

And then the ground shook violently. It was like an earthquake or being near a large vessel crashing but it was so strong that everyone lost their footing. Pebbles and some rocks fell from the ceiling.
Jessie took advantage of the shock and spun her small clutch bag around in a loop, clobbering Lord hood on the head with a solid whack and some hard damage. Blood poured from his forehead into his eyes and he could not see to aim. Jessie then kicked the gun pout of his hand and rolled away to get some distance.

The Varon-T flew across the chamber and landed in the dirt by Willow's feet.

The Battle, Leaving Atmo, Black Bart's Shuttle LV-426, 1:30 pm PT
Black Bart swore repeatedly as his emergency shuttle left Atmo and headed into the Black. The job was a complete wash now and he only escaped with his own life. he'd have to lie low for awhile but once this blew over, then he'd find that Lord Hood and get some re-compensate for what just happened.

Then he realized he wasn't alone in the Black. The federal Marshalls were here in force, actually it looked like all the Federal Marshalls in the alliance were here above this LV 426. An ASREV flew by and hit the shuttle with an EMP, shutting down his system as another ship grabbed the shuttle with a grav-mag clamp.

"Attention. You are bound by law. We are Federal Marshalls and you are bound by law."

Black Bart swore more and more.

The Battle, LV-426, 1:32 pm PT
ASREVs and ASFS entered the atmo and swooped over the scene of the battle. The heavier personnel carriers came in shortly after that. All of them broadcasting over speaker. "We are The Federal Marshalls of the Alliance. Drop all weapons and surrender. You are bound by law. We have assumed control. We have assumed control."

“Ma is safe, I’m leaving her here near the shuttle……….I need to get to the caves.”

Wyatt felt a momentary surge of relief wash over him as the radio crackled the news. They were all right, and that meant the world to the captain. That Asher was capable of heading to the caves helped settle Sung’s concern over those he’d sent there. It was time to end this.

"John's in the infirmary. You wanna stop these bastards, that's the best way for it." Wyatt stepped back from the mule to allow Havelock room to disembark. "Besides, this gentleman warrior could use some patchin' up. C'mon Havelock. Let's see about some bandages."

"Pish Posh!" Havelock said pushing himself upright and away from the Captain. "I am fine. Well I remember ..."

Suddenly the sound of gunfire erupted from above. Steady, non-stop rounds from the auto cannon of the ASREV mixed in with the ricochet of some rounds of the hull of the ship. Good thing that they captain had pulled inside when he did but there was nothing to do but duck down and wait for the cascade of bullets to end. There was a terrible whirring noise and then the sound of metal ripping apart.

Then there was an awful crash. Louder than the gunfire and the force of the impact caused the ship to jump and shift, knocking everyone to their feet. Despite the damage and beating that Rocinante had taken, it stayed upright and the landing gear held against the shock.

Once the ground stopped moving, Every stood up except Havelock who was no bleeding badly again. Nancy grabbed one arm of old soldier while Tess took the other. Wyatt looked at Wolf with a expression that spoke volume. The mechanic put his hand on his weapon and nodded to show the Captain he understood the sentiment - Trust no one.

As they turned around the corner, the smell of burnt equipment filled their noses and then as they approached the infirmary - they saw the quarantine doors were sealed. Nancy ran to the doors, leaving Tess with Havelock and looked inside but what she saw made her shake her head. "Captain? I think this was one of yours." she said is a quiet voice.

Wyatt ran to the doorway of the infirmary and looked in. There had been a fire within, the walls and table were scorched and blackened. On the floor was John, not moving. He had fallen on top of a cable running between the wall and the receiver that John had set up. In a glance, Wyatt knew what had happened. The cables had caught fire, the fire repression system had activated in the infirmary and started pumping out the air. John, know that the cables would not hold, fell on them so the circuit wasn't lost. John gave his life to keep the mercenaries down.

John had been a bit too haughty for Wyatt’s personal taste, but he had been good at his job and the captain even though Captain Sung didn’t personally like John, he had been part of his crew. That meant that John had been family, and he’d been brave and selfless. Wyatt stared at the body of his fallen man and offered up a prayer to Buddha for his soul. He’d turned out to be a hero, and that’s how Sung would remember him.

"We are The Federal Marshalls of the Alliance. Drop all weapons and surrender. You are bound by law. We have assumed control. We have assumed control."
The words came over the high-jacked loudspeakers. Wyatt allowed his shoulders to relax. He wasn’t normally happy to have the Law bearing down on them, but in this case he was thrilled. Placing a hand flat against the glass, Wyatt silently said his good-byes before turning to meet Nancy’s sympathy-filled gaze. He gave her a nod of thanks and then looked to Havelock.

During the war, Wyatt had seen many a man wounded. A dying man had something about him, something that Wyatt had once heard a monk explain as an aura where the spirit of the man was preparing to leave the body. Even though moments before Wyatt had been unsure of who to trust, Havelock had fought like a lion, and seeing that aura about the gentleman warrior added to the heavy heart that the captain was being forced to entertain. Havelock was dying. The man who had taken so many wounds and lived to literally tell the tale over and over again had finally lost his race against Death.

Taking the couple of steps to Havelock’s side, Wyatt motioned to those who carried him that they needed to lay the gentleman on the steel, grated flooring. Once they did, Sung placed a hand on Havelock’s shoulder so that the older man would know he wasn’t alone as he passed.

The kid turned to start heading to the caves when he heard the ASREV opened up with full auto cannons on the corvette, it took out the back engines with a vengeance. Asher could see that ship would drop and wasted no time diving for cover, taking Ma down with him. He hustled them under the debris of the shuttle. As the large ship came down fast and hard, the impact shook the ground beneath them like an earthquake. Asher looked up and over at Rocinante expecting the landing struts to buckle but the old workhouse held steady as if an angel was watching over it.

The shacking stoped and the kid helped Trish out from under the debris. As they stood ASREVs and ASFS entered the atmo and swooped over the scene of the battle, heavier personnel carriers came in shortly after that. All of them broadcasting over speaker, "We are The Federal Marshalls of the Alliance. Drop all weapons and surrender. You are bound by law. We have assumed control. We have assumed control."

Asher found one of the seats from the shuttle and set it up for Trish. “Looks like we best stay put so they don’t confuse us with them.” He then help Ma into the seat, Trish layed her pink shotgun on the ground next to her. With the stimulants still coursing through his veins the PR man paced watching for fleeing mercs and hoping Lieutenant Vasques would come back.

As Willow typed her message into the PADD, she saw the flicker of fear in Lord Hood’s eyes. Fear that he had made a mistake.

Even prepared as she was, Hood moved too quickly for her, grabbing Jessie and producing a handgun that he held to the young lady's head. "That is enough Doctor." He said coldly, "This is a very powerful gun and I am sure you don't want to watch this girl die slowly as her inners dissolve. Time for games are over now. You will get me the violin now!"

There was a brief moment of tension, as Willow dared take a breath. Jessie looked more annoyed than pissed off. The boys took a step back, Sheldon fainted.

And then Atlas shrugged. Pebbles and rocks fell from the cave ceiling as everyone fought to keep their footing. Jessie took advantage of the shock and spun her small clutch bag around to clobber Lord Hood in the head with a solid whack. Blood poured from his forehead into his eyes and he could not see to aim. Jessie then kicked the gun out of his hand and rolled away to get some distance.

The Varon-T flew across the chamber and landed in the dirt by Willow's feet with a skittering clatter of plastic rather than the clang of metal. Perhaps in another time, another place, Willow might have wondered whether an artifact of Earth-that-was should endure solely because it was of historical significance, but not now. Without a moment’s hesitation, Willow’s delicately slippered foot (the beading somewhat worse for wear in the rocky cave) shot out from under her skirts to crush the Varon-T. Pushing her ki from her heart through the heel of her foot into the good earth, she trod upon the plastic housing, then ground her foot for good measure.

As she heard the satisfying crunch and grind of pulverizing plastic, she suddenly realized she was dismantling a powerful device without any safety protection whatsoever.

“Gossah!” She winced, “let this not be my last act!”

Inside Rocinante, LV-426, 1:30 pm PT
With the fight over, the feds having gotten it all under ‘control’, Fenris slowly moved into the cargo hold and surveyed the damage. His booby traps, at least here, had done their jobs having hurt the Merc’s just by the number of torn bodies among the dead. As he looked he wondered for a moment of picking up some of the Merc’s weapons and adding them to the ships stores, Ash would love the new guns, but Wolf chose not too. With the Rocinante’s luck lately the feds would most likely consider the guns contraband and arrest them all along with the Merc’s.

However there was something he did have to do and damn the feds if they thought it wrong. Grabbing two blankets he moved to the bodies of Hack and Slash and laid them side by side. Then taking the blankets he covered their faces and upper bodies giving them some respect in death. Then searching he grabbed both of their handguns and tucked them into his waist band along with any remaining ammo. Wolf was damned if the feds would take the two guns and just threw them away. Hack and Slash deserved to be remembered and by taking and using both of their guns, Wolf would always remember the two brave volunteers that had fought by his side.

Moving through the rest of the ship he defused any remaining traps and grenades and taking them and the JC to his room he deposited them, along with the two big handguns, on the bed. Then with only his Beretta machine pistols, headed back outside...........

Infirmary
During the war, Wyatt had seen many a man wounded. A dying man had something about him, something that Wyatt had once heard a monk explain as an aura where the spirit of the man was preparing to leave the body. Even though moments before Wyatt had been unsure of who to trust, Havelock had fought like a lion, and seeing that aura about the gentleman warrior added to the heavy heart that the captain was being forced to entertain. Havelock was dying. The man who had taken so many wounds and lived to literally tell the tale over and over again had finally lost his race against Death.

Taking the couple of steps to Havelock’s side, Wyatt motioned to those who carried him that they needed to lay the gentleman on the steel, grated flooring. Once they did, Sung placed a hand on Havelock’s shoulder so that the older man would know he wasn’t alone as he passed.

Havelock’s eyes opened suddenly and looked not at Wyatt but over hid shoulder, “No! We had a deal!” He shouted and then coughed up blood.

(assuming a “what deal? What are you talking about?)

Havelock turned his eyes to Wyatt and focused on the Captain. “Her. I made a deal with her back in Serenity Valley.”

(Who?)

“Death. I was wounded badly and lying in the mud when she came for me. She reached out but I asked her ...I said please. Don’t take me. Don’t take me until I can get them all home safe. “

(something comforting. He delusional and fading fast. As Wyatt looks at him, the blood is soaking through his clothing and armour like all the old wounds have opened up again.)

“She said that she would leave me there. She said she would only come when I had saved them all. But I couldn’t save them all. I just couldn’t.”

(But you did save them. The passengers are all safe. We did it. You did it)

“What? Everyone is safe?”

(yes, you kept your promise. It’s okay.)

Havelock coughs more blood and starts to slump more, Wyatt can feel the energy leaving the soldier’s body. He stops coughing and says, “Don’t let them make a monument of me. Promise me you’ll take me back to the valley. Bury me with my men?”

(Yes. Of course)

Havelock eyes lose their focus and he draws a last breathe. As he start to close his eyes, he says, “Ahh yes my dear, I did promise you a dance.” With those final words, his life ends.

The room becomes very silent to Wyatt, like within a pressure suit and looking off into the Black. There is sound about him but he doesn’t hear it. He looks up from the body of the warrior and his eyes fall upon something he never expected. A young lady, dressed in black jeans and halter top, standing in the corridor by the infirmary. Her skin is very pale, a formal top hat on her head and a smile that suggests mischief. She raises her hands to the ceiling and white light leaves both of them. All Wyatt can hear is the sound of wings flapping, like birds taking flight.

Then the butt of a rifle smashes into the back of Wyatt’s head.

“DOWN! EVERYONE DOWN! YOU ARE ALL BOUND BY LAW!” a number of alliance soldiers shout. Wyatt is covered by soldiers with assault rifles as he is stripped of weapons and forced to the ground. Tess and Nancy are also being treated roughly and stripped of their weapons. Nancy is screaming that she is a federal Marshall but the soldiers don’t seem to care. Arrest everyone and let Buddha sort them out – standard alliance mode of operation.

As Wyatt clung to consciousness, he did not see any lady in black anymore. He also did not see Wolf who was here before ... everything when belly up. Where is Wolf?”
Cargo Bay
Wolf left the infirmary behind and moved quickly to the Cargo Bay. There was something he did have to do and damn the feds if they thought it wrong. Grabbing two blankets, from a nearby storage locker, he moved to the bodies of Hack and Slash and laid them side by side. The shaking from the corvette crashing had knocked Hack's headless body to the cargo bay floor so it was easy enough to do. Wolf covered their faces and upper bodies with the blanket, giving them some respect in death. Then searching their bodies, he grabbed both of their handguns and tucked them into his waist band along with any remaining ammo. The guns were high unusual, with battery packs in the grips and the ammo looking like staples more than bullets. He got up with the intention of moving through the rest of the ship he defused any remaining traps and grenades but he only managed a few steps before three squads of alliance soldiers came pouring into the cargo bay with full armour and assault weapons.

“DOWN! EVERYONE DOWN! YOU ARE ALL BOUND BY LAW! I SAID GET DOWN NOW!!” one of them screams at Wolf as a squad of six moved towards him .

(Assuming Wolf is not going to try to fight)

Soldiers continue to enter the ship as Wolf is forced down on the ground and stripped of all his weapons. Once they are sure he is unarmed, they bind his hands behind his back and haul him out of the cargo bay. As they do, soldiers bring out Wyatt, Tess, and Nancy similarly bound.

“What the gorram hell are you doing?” the soldier from the first ship who spoke to Wolf before comes running in, anger clearly wrought on his face, “You idiots! They are the crew and she a gorram special agent on our side!”

The commander looks down at Hudson, “Stand down Corporal. We have orders.”

“Orders!” Hudson yells, “Well that is good ‘cause you don’t have a gorram brain to share between you!”

“I said stand Down!” the commander shouts.

Hudson punches the commander in the face, knocking him backward to the bay floor. Then three of the soldiers jump on Hudson. The fight continues as the three of you are moved out onto the dirt of the runway and made to kneel as the other soldiers round up the leftover mercenaries and bring them over as prisoners alongside you.

Nancy shouts out, “I am Nancy Callahan. Codename Sparrow. Identity clearance code Alpha 007 42 17. Relay that to the commander of this operation now or by god I will end the career of every man I see here. NOW!!!”

By the Shuttle
Asher found one of the seats from the shuttle and set it up for Trish. “Looks like we best stay put so they don’t confuse us with them.” He then help Ma into the seat, Trish laid her pink shotgun on the ground next to her. With the stimulants still coursing through his veins the PR man paced watching for fleeing mercs and hoping Lieutenant Vasques would come back.

Soldiers came down from the sky and a troop transport landed near the crash site. The soldiers began to swarm around and they were not happy people. “DOWN! EVERYONE DOWN! YOU ARE ALL BOUND BY LAW! GET DOWN NOW!!”

(Assuming that Asher is not going to fight)

The Kid surrenders as meekly as he can as the soldiers swarm around him. One of them calls for Trish to take off her helmet. When she does, the soldier becomes infuriated. “By Buddha. This piece of Ga Sa has completely disfigured this woman!”

Asher turned to try and explain and Ma wordless gestured to the soldier; the Kid got a rifle butt to the face before he could speak and another soldier kicks him in the back of the knees to make him fall. He was roughly put to the ground, searched for any other weapons and then bound up with his hands behind his back.

Ma attempted to stop them but the soldiers continued to misunderstand the situation. When they hit Asher she went completely ballistic, ignoring her own wounds and pain to attack the soldiers and throw them off the young man. Finally, one of them gave Ma some sort of sedative from a med pack to drop her into unconsciousness rapidly.

"What the hell was that about? We saved her?" Said one of the soldiers.

"I've seen it before. Prisoner identifies with her captor. It is called Stalker Home Syndrome." Said another.

Asher was halted to his feet, had a rifle barrel pressed to his back and given orders to march back to the ship where they were gathering up prisoners. Ma is taken away by a medic crew.

The Caves
The Varon-T flew across the chamber and landed in the dirt by Willow's feet with a skittering clatter of plastic rather than the clang of metal. Perhaps in another time, another place, Willow might have wondered whether an artifact of Earth-that-was should endure solely because it was of historical significance, but not now. Without a moment’s hesitation, Willow’s delicately slippered foot (the beading somewhat worse for wear in the rocky cave) shot out from under her skirts to crush the Varon-T. Pushing her ki from her heart through the heel of her foot into the good earth, she trod upon the plastic housing, and then ground her foot for good measure.

As she heard the satisfying crunch and grind of pulverizing plastic, she suddenly realized she was dismantling a powerful device without any safety protection whatsoever. Luckily, the Varon T was an old earth energy weapon completely made of plastic to avoid weapon detectors.

“Gossah!” She winced, “Let this not be my last act!”

Lord Hood screamed and clutched his head in agony, “NO! That was a priceless artifact! How could you!” He ran in blind anger towards Willow, ignoring his wounded head and intent upon tearing flesh from the doctor’s face in revenge.

Sifu moved like a cat to intercept his Lordship. He moved like a man in a dance, lightly touching his partner and redirecting his movement so that he spun Hood around and through him into the nearby control panel. His lordship slid down the wall and did not get up, his eyes gloss in unconsciousness.

Just then, the transmitter in the room spluttered to life and a message clear came across all speakers in the cave. "We are The Federal Marshalls of the Alliance. Drop all weapons and surrender. You are bound by law. We have assumed control. We have assumed control."

Outside the Caves
Miko saw the ships entering atmo and realized that the gig had gone south. It looked like her fearless leader had taken the shuttle and fled the scene and she thought there was now wisdom in that action. Soldiers would be coming in quickly, dropping from the sky and on transports. Taking the skiff would be a waste of time.

So Miko ordered her second to defend their positions knowing it was a fool’s errand and then she quietly slipped herself pass the cave entrance and up the cliffs, making her way slowly, under the cover of the rocks and overhangs. Once she found a spot, she immediately removed her uniform and hid her sword among the cracks. If a soldier found a half dressed mute woman – well, she knew how to distract him without saying a word.

An Hour later

After a brief battle, the alliance captures or subdues all hostiles in the area and enters the caves to liberate the passengers. There is much rejoicing and one Commander Vonage is taking personal responsibility for rescuing the passengers. At first they are surprised to see Lord Christopher Hood unconscious but after the passengers start to tell the story of what happened, the Lord is taken into custody to face a wealth of charges.

For some reason, Sifu and Willow are assumed to be passengers from the cruise liner and not arrested like the rest of the crew. Jessie was already on the passenger list so she is also able to be taken off with all her possessions untouched.

Nancy Callahan is released within an hour of the capture and Commander Vonage spends a lot of time arguing with her as he wants her to be debriefed and she wants the crew released. After a frustrating back and forth, she decided to go and be debriefed so she can call in favours to get the crew off the hook. Before she leaves she goes to Captain Wyatt and apologizes for the stupidity and she promises to return. She then goes over to where Black Bart is kneeling in the dirt. She tells the guards to let him stand so she can face him.

“I got nothing to say to you Bitch!” Bart spits at her.

Nancy smiles charmingly and plants her foot between his legs with as much force as she can muster. He makes a whoop noise and collapses on the ground at her feet, “I have had things with dead batteries that were better lovers than you.” She says and spits on him before walking away.

Abroad the Intrepid, Tohoku-class, Evening, time unknown
You are all rounded up alongside the very mercenaries you fought and put into transports and taken up into the Black. The passengers, and those thought to be passengers are also taken away but put in much nicer dorm rooms where medical personal see to them immediately.

At first everyone is lead to individual cells and locked up. Within an hour, you are joined by an "interviewer" who is a low ranking officer in the alliance. They ask you questions over and over, and listen to you tell your side of the story.

(For Wyatt, Asher, Tess, and Trish) After awhile passes, a man comes in and dismisses the interviewer. He is a federal marshal, with the insignia of the Colonel rank and he is one strange looking guy. He had shockingly white hair with similar colouring for his moustache and the short beard that he sported, but his eyes were what draws your attention - bright blue, almost incandescent. He wears a black flight suit with a long black duster and black boots that looked a few years old. He carried a sidearm that was bigger than most, but carried no other weapons.

"I am Colonel Harland Sanders of the Federal Marshalls. Please come with me? Do you need medical attention? I am now in charge of the mess that was created here. Ms. Callahan has filled me in on your role. I am sorry for how you have been treated, unfortunately, it took me awhile to get through to high command that I was first on the scene."

Colonel Sanders take you to the med bay if you need treatment and then brings you to a lounge area. Wyatt, Asher, Tess and Ma are reunited there, and then Willow is escorted to the room as well. You have a few moments alone to talk briefly, let everyone know of John's fate and Havelock. None of you know where Wolf is and the officers are not telling you either.

After some time, Sanders returns with Commander Vonage in tow, and he does not look happy. The colonel gestures The commander and then to Captain Wyatt.

“Mr. Sung.” Vonage begins.

“Captain.” Wyatt corrects him.

“Of course. Captain Sung. Allow me to apologize for the delay in you and your crew’s release. You understand that we had to be very cautious in the situation as it presented itself. As a man from the war, I am sure you fully understand.

(some curt reply back)

“Umm. Yes. Well. I am here to let you know that we are indeed sorry that it happened and to let you know that the passengers, the cruise liner and the owner of the Stradivarius are very thankful for your bravery and personal sacrifice. Baron Winters, the owner of the violin would like to pay to have your ship brought to his ship yards and completely repaired if you so desire, including two new shuttle crafts. The cruise liner would like to offer you a reward of 10,000 credits as well, so you could get yourself a brand new ship as well. A number of the passengers want to have you stay at an all-inclusive resort nearby for the time it takes to repair your ship as a way to say thank you.”

(some sort of response, perhaps shock)

Sanders cleared his throat and motioned for the Commander to move back. He then turned to the crew but mostly focused on Captain Wyatt. “Unfortunately, we have a problem with one of your crew members, Fenris Apollo. Yes, when he was arrested, we found upon his person, two Gauss type weapons. Now as you may or may not know, Gauss weaponry is highly restricted and requires a special permit to carry which he does not have. Furthermore, we found two deceased gentlemen, - Harold and Stanley Borgia-Chan who did have such permits. Evidence suggests that your crewman murdered both of them to steal their weapons.”

(What? Not possible?)

“The guns were found on Mr. Fenris’ person and he had in his possession an assault weapon with a shotgun attachment. The fatal wounds that the men received matches said weapon. I am afraid that he has been charged with two counts of murder, possession of illegal weapons and two counts of theft of restricted weapons. He will be appoint a lawyer to defend him or if you wish to use the reward money to hire him an advocate, that is your choice." Sanders grimaced sadly, "Now I know this is complete Go Sa but the Borgia-Chans are a very powerful and influential family and there is no way that I can make this go away without a formal inquiry." he looked over at Vonage, "Especially since all the charges have already been filed." the Colonel rolled his eyes, "One of my men saw a Mercenary with what was probably the murder weapon but for some reason, it has not been recovered. I have two of my own people looking into that and investigating."

In a cell
Wolf waited and waited. They had interviewed him several times about what was happening on the planet but they asked the same questions over and over and he had enough experience from prison to know when it was time to be quiet. The mechanic had a bad feeling about this.

Into the area outside his cell, two men came in, one in a uniform, one in a suit. The uniformed man was a low ranking officer of the alliance. The guy in the suit looked vaguely bored and something about his face made Wolf think of a weasel.

"Fenris Apollo." The officer said plainly and pulled out a sheet to read from, "You are hereby bound by law for the crimes of the murders of Harold and Stanley Borgia-Chan. You are also charged with two counts of theft of restricted military weaponry and two counts of possession of stolen goods." he puts away the paper.

(assuming some outrage. That isn't what happened)

"Yes. Well. This is Jonathan Howe of Dewey, Cheatem and Howe associates. He is your assigned advocate." and with that the officer leaves you with the lawyer.

"Mr. Apollo. I have reviewed your file and I am afraid you are not in a good position. found with the items on your person, criminal record, carrying the murder weapon on your person as well. I think your best hope here will be to confess, plead battle madness and I might get you on Perdition instead of the death penalty. At the very least, I can move the trial to Sidhon so the death won't be a quick exit through an airlock." He smiles as if he found a positive in a sea of negative.

Federal Marshall's holding cell time and Planet unknown
THUNK, THUMP, THUNK, THUMP, THUNK, THUMP.
Wolf sat on the holding cell bed right leg stretched out, left bent in an A, throwing the baseball from glove to wall and having it bounce back to the glove, awaiting his day in ‘court’. The mechanic had to chuckle at the day in court part as he knew damn well he was headed back to prison. The Feds needed someone to place the blame and use to make it look like THEY had saved the liner folk. Yeah there were the merc’s but finding Wolf with the JC assault rifle and 2 gauss pistols standing over the two bodies of the pistols former owners, yeah not good.

Fenris Apollo aka Wolf paused in his throwing to study the baseball and glove. When he’d first been placed in the cell he had noticed the pitcher’s glove and ball lying in the back corner of the room behind the bed. Picking it up the ball and glove though worn seemed to be in good condition. On closer inspection Wolf had found on the glove in faded black permanent ink the letters S. MQ. Shrugging having no idea what the letters meant he went back to killing time.

THUNK, THUMP, THUNK, THUMP, THUNK, THUMP.
Into the area outside his cell, two men came in, one in a uniform, one in a suit. The uniformed man was a low ranking officer of the alliance. The guy in the suit looked vaguely bored and something about his face made Wolf think of a weasel.

"Fenris Apollo." The officer said plainly and pulled out a sheet to read from, "You are hereby bound by law for the crimes of the murders of Harold and Stanley Borgia-Chan. You are also charged with two counts of theft of restricted military weaponry and two counts of possession of stolen goods." he puts away the paper.

Wolf remaining quiet just looked at the two men not saying a word. They had interviewed him several times about what had happened on the planet. Had asked the same questions over and over, both nicely and with fists, and Wolf had said nothing, not one single word, playing the part of a mute as if born to it. The Roc’s mechanic had enough experience from prison to know when it was best to be quiet; he knew trying to claim innocence was a lost cause with these Feds.
After a few moments of silence from Wolf the uniform intro’d the suit.

"Yes. Well. This is Jonathan Howe of Dewey, Cheatem and Howe associates. He is your assigned advocate." With that the officer left leaving Wolf with the lawyer. Wolf again could not help a smile creep across his face. A lawyer? a real lawyer, the Feds must have watchers looking over them if they actually had assigned him a lawyer. “Mr. Apollo. I have reviewed your file and I am afraid you are not in a good position. found with the items on your person, criminal record, carrying the murder weapon on your person as well. I think your best hope here will be to confess, plead battle madness and I might get you on Perdition instead of the death penalty. At the very least, I can move the trial to Sidhon so the death won't be a quick exit through an airlock." He smiles as if he found a positive in a sea of negative.

For the first time since he’d been taken into custody, Wolf said his first word.

“No”

“But Mr. Apollo your facing life in prison, possible death by execution I feel confessing and going for the mercy of the jury is your best, really your only option here.”

“No”

As Wolf’s ‘advocate’ looked on stunned Wolf in silence just looking back. If the lawyer before him was already ’advocating’ going the guilty route then Wolf did not want him. Give him someone that would try to save his ass then yeah the mechanic would be all for it. However give him this Feh Feh Pi Goh* and he could just defend himself with the same degree of success.

As the uniform came back and the suit got up to leave Wolf looked at the officer and said his second and third words.

“He’s fired”

Turning away Wolf returned to throwing the baseball, he had named it SQM in honor of the letters, whistling an old tune and just killing time till his day in ‘court‘........

THUNK, THUMP, THUNK, THUMP, THUNK, THUMP.
*Baboon’s ass crack