Kora finished up the wielding of the last plate together when the call came for food at the homestead.

“Roc, why don’t ya all come on down to the spread for a bite t’ eat. Step lightly folks, we don’t want t’ ruin Sam’s tomatoes.”

Kora smiled at the thought of food; her stomach growling in protest of the neglect it had been treated with so far. She entered the ship and removed her suit, pausing long enough to wipe the soot and dirt from her hands and then shoulder her Falcon Assault rifle and stuff a spare clip in her beltloop. She donned her ballistic vest and a jacket to run out and catch up with the rest of the crew.

Willow had her usual effect on menfolk, as Jim stopped what he was saying and stared at her in a rapturous awe. Sam finally cleared his throat and whacked him on the shoulder, ‘Jim? You’ll letting the space-bugs in.” he said pointing at his mouth.

“Huh? Oh!” Jim shook his head and laughed again, “I’m a sorry ma’am, but it has been a long while since me and Sam seen a woman, let alone two and a right purdy ones at that. Welcome to our home.”

There was something about Sam Hawkes that made Kora think she knew him from somewhere. She couldn’t quite place it, but he seemed very familiar.

As everyone sat down, Sam and Jim served the food with the glee of people happy to have guests.

Willow ate delicately, though the expression on her face as she took the first bite of fresh tomato was almost too indecent to watch. She realized a fair amount of the table was watching her and coloured prettily. “I didn’t moan out loud, did I?” she murmured, “I’ve not had garden vegetables in some time. Speaking of which, Sam, do tell me about your garden. What do you grow on this ice rock of yours?”

‘Well, I was a farmer long before I was a miner ma’am. When me and Jim got the idea for this and things started going good for us, I did spend a whack of dough to try and make this place seem as close to home as I could.” He sighed sadly, “Of course, home being what it was after the war, well this is about all I have left.”

…all I have left ….
…all I have left ….
…all I have left ….

Kora had been separated from her unit and needed to find her way back to base. She happened across a group of soldier clustered around a transport called Lucius Newberry. She hooked up with them because they were pulling out as soon as they loaded up the transport with crates. She offered to help for a lift to base. The commanding officer, one Colonel Maddoc was more than willing to take her on. There were lots of crates and they were all very heavy.

Sergeant Sam Hawkes and Lt. Kombes greeted her kindly. Sam joked with her about her call name but didn’t question her about what her unit was or her task there. They supervised the 20 men in the unit but also helped out. Those were heavy crates, really heavy and there were so many that the cargo bay was full by the time they finished.

Maddoc never raised a hand to help. He just watched them, along with this red-haired woman that was clinging to his side. Never did get a good look at the woman, but she was hanging tight to Maddoc like a second shirt.

Then the shelling began at a distance. The Alliance was moving towards their position. The men moved to the ship but the Colonel ordered them to hold their positions until he could inspect the hold.

Every instinct in Kora’s gut told her something was wrong, and it was confirmed when the cargo bay doors closed with a slam and Lucius Newberry lifted off into the sky, leaving all the men behind. Maddoc had betrayed them, but for what? Some red haired harlot and a bunch of crates?

Boxed in when the shelling hit, the unit began to take losses immediately. Kora and Sam scourged across the battlefield to find enough parts to make a transmitter. An aerial was needed though to boost the signal. Kombes found some spools of wired and led it behind him to hook it up to the tower where an alliance attack skiff had crashed. Use the hull as the aerial – great idea.
But there was one surviving member of the skiff crew who shot Kombes as he ran.

“He’s not gonna make it!” Sam shouted.

Kombes staggered and with his last strength, flung himself on the skiff, using his body and the blood to connect the hull to the wire.

“We have a signal, Wraith!” Sam cried.

Kora grabbed the makeshift handset, “Ghostriders, this is Shadow Wraith. Do you copy?”

Sam ducked as the shells crashed in. “I just want to get home. It’s all I have left.”

>…all I have left ….
…all I have left ….
…all I have left ….
Kora’s eyes seemed to be a mile away and her fork stopped moving. Then she winced as if in pain and jerked away from the table. “All I have left. All I have left! Ghostriders, this is Shadow Wraith! Come in for Gods’ Sake!” she cried out, falling back from her chair.

"Wraith?” Sam suddenly looked at Kora as if just seeing her for the first time, “Wraith is that you?”

Willow was there by Kora’s side in an instant. She had been witness to a few of the young mechanic’s traumatic flashbacks before. “She’s okay! Just give her a few moments. They usually come as fast as they go.” She said mostly to Jim and Sam. The rest of the crew knew about the past that haunted Kora.


OOC: this happens before the warning bell of the MC docking. Kora will have recovered enough to act by the time the other ship docked and the hatch is entered.

(Back Post)

“Wraith? Wraith is that you?”

Wyatt had turned quickly, his hand darting to his hog’s heel, at Kora’s outburst. He’d seen her flashbacks as well, but this had come completely unexpectedly. Normally something had to trigger it and he wasn’t expecting anything in that small, out of the way claim to do that. Glancing over to where Sam had responded, he realized that they must’ve known each other way back when during the War and though his face remained its usual mask of indifference, inside he instantly became worried as to what kind of relationship these two had shared.

“She’s okay! Just give her a few moments. They usually come as fast as they go.” Willow explained, though Wyatt knew it was for their host’s benefit, not the crew’s.

Wyatt gave Dash and Asher a cautioning look accompanied by a slight shake of the head to warn off any investigating on their part. If Kora or Sam wanted to share their past, that was their business. So far, things were going in a relaxed fashion. There was nothing to indicate Sam’d conjure up trouble and his recognition of Kora was filled with surprise, but his demeanor didn’t change none.

Wyatt Sung had learned long ago that Willow was best suited to deal with the grease-monkey when she went all prehistoric. He’d worn a bruise on his left butt cheek and hip for quite some time when he’d made the mistake of putting his hand on her shoulder near the rail of the cargo bay overlook the first time he’d experienced it. He’d discovered just how long of a drop that was and how painful it was to limp around indignant while he healed up. Kora’d been right embarrassed by her huckin’ the captain over the rail routine, but there was nothing for it. The way he saw it, he’d walked in on that bear and deserved the mauling.

When it looked like she was coming about, he said softly, “You ku, Kora?”

The ladies and the Kid stepped into the house just as the Cap’n was getting into negotiations with the prospectors.

“Well, now, Captain San,” Willow interjected demurely, “you didn’t start discussing business without me, now, did you?” The doctor extended her hand and turned the full power of her smile onto the two miners.

“I’m Willow Takahara, gentlemen. It’s my pleasure to meet you.”

Willow had her usual effect on menfolk: jaws dropping and the miners drooling over themselves. Ash just smirked and pulled up a seat by Dash. The miner named Sam finally cleared his throat and whacked his partner on the shoulder, ‘Jim? You’re letting the space-bugs in.” he said pointing at his mouth.

Dash chuckled at Jim and Sam’s reaction to Willow.

“Huh? Oh!” Jim shook his head and laughed again, “I’m a sorry ma’am, but it has been a long while since me and Sam seen a woman, let alone two and a right purdy ones at that. Welcome to our home.” He extended his hand to shake Willows and caught Wyatt looking at him for an answer. ’Un- ice? Oh. Oh! Sorry about that. My train plum left the station without my luggage. No sir, noting unexpected in the load, and you can come out and watch us load every box if you’d likes. If Bailey or I want you to smuggle for us, we’ll tell you and sweeten the deal.”

“Howzat, Cap,” Dash grinned, “not only is these fellas hardworkin’ prospector-types but they’s not to dull onna business end o’ things neither.”

Ash chuckled at Dash’s joke.

”Speakin’ o’ sweetnin’ the deal, Jim-bo,” Dash continued, rubbing his stomach, “Hows’bout that grub? I got a powerful rumblin’ stirred up in my gullet an’, if that other boat’s grease monkey’s even half as good as our Mei mei here,” inclining his head in Kora’s direction, “I don’ reckon they’ll be long fer showin’ up… Ma always said; better ta tussle on a full belly.”

“Yer ma’s got some good wisdom there, Dash. Good wisdom…”

”Oh hey! Wil don’ eat meat nor eggs,” the pilot’s smiled broadened as he came to that realization, “Ya don’ mind if me an’ the Kid eats yer share, do ya, Doc?”

Ash looked up hopefully at the doctor for the affirmative nod, and thanked the Lord above for the good doctor’s views on food.

The good Cap’n let his crew settle in to enjoy a meal, and Ash was more than ready for a second breakfast. The smells of real bacon and eggs nearly sent the lad off the walls and he could feel his mouth salivating.

“Well,” Sam said, his voice filled with pride. “We gots some veggies, the bacon’s done right, some coffee, and eggs… veggies fer the lady.”

“Eggs and bacon fer the lad,” Ash piped in as he snatched up a plate and helped himself. He tried not to be too rude and restrained himself from grabbing two plates.

Asher made his way back to the table, devouring a strip of bacon as he walked. Sitting down, he had to make a conscious effort to actually savor the food. He was just finishing up his first plate, when the Cap’n came by and inquired about his arm.

The lad showed the man his arm. “All shiny, Cap’n,” he grinned. “Doctor sure is handy with her hands!” He winked over at Willow.

Giving the young man a pat on the shoulder Wyatt rises and nods his thanks to Willow for taking care of Ash just in time for the warning to sound.

”Aww, man! Why they gotta go an’ interrupt breakfast?” the lad whined.

The Cap’n was all calm-like as he spoke.

“This is your home, boys. I ain’t about t’ tread on nothin’, but I gotta tell you I ain’t keen going out there with pants around my ankles, if ya catch my drift. So, unless you two have a right mighty urge to objectify, I’m gonna suggest me an’ mine take up someplace defensively proper with our iron skinned.”

Wyatt was only partially telling the truth. Fact was, he wasn’t going to wait for their OK.

“Dash, go high with Asher.” Asher gave the Cap’n a nod. He made a quick stop in the kitchen to grab a couple slices of bacon before picking up his rifle and heading upstairs after Dash.

Finding a window overlooking the coupler where the Celestia would be docking, Ash lined up the sights of the ol’ grizzly on the coupler’s door and switched the safety off.

[OOC: should the crew of the Celestia come out shooting, Ash will follow Wyatt’s orders and/or example – meaning, he would fire unless Dash or Wyatt tell him to, or he sees Wyatt shoot. If possible, Ash will try not to kill somebody. Instead, he’s looking to take out their legs.
He’s hoping the window slides open.]

Back posting over the meal
Willow had learned to accept the Captain’s thanks when she had taken care of the crew; she’d stopped trying to convince him that her nature would do no less. You might as well thank me for breathing, or my heart for beating, she’d told him once, but he’d shrugged and repeated his thanks in that quiet way of his.

Now, she simply nodded at his thanks for Asher’s arm, glancing at the lad and smiling as he winked at her and ate heartily. As much as she shuddered to watch anyone eat fellow creatures, she knew that the protein would do him good, restoring the vitality that injury had taken from him.

Moving forward a bit
Willow had returned to the breakfast area with her med kit slung over a shoulder when she noticed Kora staring off into space, sweat beading the mechanic’s forehead and upper lip. The woman winced in pain (neurons firing wildly in the brain’s areas of memory and instinct), and cried out, falling back against her chair. “All I have left. All I have left! Ghostriders, this is Shadow Wraith! Come in for Gods’ Sake!”

Willow glided smoothly to Kora’s side, making no aggressive moves that could trigger an instinctive defense reaction. Instead, she rubbed her hands briskly together until they warmed from the friction. She reached for Kora, passing her hands over and around her face and arms, a hair’s breadth from touching, letting the warmth work past the fear and ghosts to reach the frightened psyche within. “Shsh, dear one, you’re safe,” she crooned softly, her hands never stopping their circling motion, “It’s all right, you’re here now with friends. Come back to us, Kora-Adora,” she continued, using her nickname for the mechanic. When Kora slumped against her hands, the brain storm passing, Willow gave her a gentle squeeze, settling the mechanic firmly back in the chair and withdrawing as Kora came to herself.

“She’s okay! Just give her a few moments. They usually come as fast as they go.” Willow said mostly to Jim and Sam, reassuring herself in the bargain. Kora had always come out of the flashbacks, but Willow worried at the harm they were causing. They were a sign of something festering, something Willow couldn’t reach to heal, and the not-quite-a-doctor ached with the failure.

When Kora signaled she was okay, Willow looked at Wyatt who was clearly anxious about Kora, but also wanting to take up defensive positions. “Do what you have to, Captain-san, I will await you all in the basement,” she said with what dignity she could, but she’d already begun to tremble inside. Trouble was coming with the landing ship, she knew it in her bones.

One of the miners guided her to the steps down to the basement; in her worry, she’d not noticed which. She hugged him absentmindedly, telling him to be safe, and sat on the steps to wait, and to pray.

Trish and the cat Lullabelle Mine, Rocinante Main Cockpit, 12:00 pm LMT
Knit one, Pearl two…
Trish sat in the pilot’s seat of Rocinanteknitting a blanket. On the console in front of her, she watched the instruments as she cycled the engines at idle. Everything about that other ship made her worry and she’d long ago begun to pay heed to her instincts. By the seat was Bessy fully loaded and pumped – ready for action. On the ground, the kitten was attacking her ball of yarn with a ferociousness that was as admirable as it was comical. She had coaxed it out with the protein paste and given its head a good washing. It ran away a few times since but Trish was patient and earned its trust gradually. Once she did, she liberated the cat from its collar, and hid the transmitter inside the large heavy cast iron stockpot. The transmitter didn’t really frighten her that much – not much chance of an alliance cruiser being out this way. Those gemstones though, she was plum frightened by them; if they were what she thought they were.

But that wasn’t an issue for now. That was later once they dealt with the present danger. She eyed the monitors once again, making sure they could take off at a moments notice.

Home on the Range Lullabelle Mine, Homestead, 12:00 pm LMT
"Wraith?” Sam suddenly looked at Kora as if just seeing her for the first time, “Wraith is that you?”

Sam saw Wyatt’s glance. He was clearly shocked at Kora’s reaction. “I…I didn’t recognize her. It has been a while and, well, the war changed both of us I think.”

As Kora recovers from the episode, Sam related the story of how they met – of the betrayal of the Colonel, the Lucius Newberry and how they managed to get out alive although it was only him, Kora and three other men. He’d lost track of her shortly after they were dropped off at base and taken to medics. This was the first time he’d seen Kora since.

As he finished the story, Kora starts to breathe normally and begins to signal that she is okay. As she does, the warning sound of the docking rings out from the console.

“We’ve got company” Jim calls out and grabs his rifle. “youse all who coming up, follow me. Remember the windows are holos, so they can’t see you, but that ain’t gonna protect you either.”

Dash and Asher head upstairs behind Jim. Sam gets his shotgun and heads to the side of the window as Kora and Wyatt move to other the window to watch the hatchway. Willow heads to the safety of the basement, hoping she won’t be in need of her skills in life saving today.

There is a stretch of time that everyone waits. The signal light shows the ship is docked, but no one comes out.

“You got a feed on the hatch?” Dash asks Jim, impatient and feeling a bit twitchy.

“We did.” Jim says with a sigh, “But we ruined it last time we had pirates try to take what’s ours. When we blew the thermite on the landing pad, it destroyed their ship but also a good part of the hatch. We fixed the hatch but I hadn’t got around to rewiring the feeds, or laying more thermite.”

Dash looks over at the prospector, “Does that mean our ship…”

“Is sitting on a half ton of thermite? Nah, relax. I have been pretty lazy of late.”

The hatchway opens suddenly. Inside, the intruders have stacked up crates and cases as cover. A young man stands there, looking all of maybe16 years old and dressed like a school boy – even has a backpack on. A farmhand maybe except for the ballistic vest and the guns strapped to his sides on one on the left leg. He starts to move towards the house, looking like he is going to draw his guns and charge, but he slows down, and actually stops – looking around at the dome environment and the vegetable garden with an uncontained sense of wonder.

The next man through is easily one of the biggest men you have seen. A barrel-chested man with wavy brown hair, crooked teeth and a nose that looked like it had been broken more than once (Picture Marv from Sin City with longer hair). Barrel-chested doesn’t actually quite go the distance in how muscular and bulky he is, but the oversized military issue machine gun with a grenade launcher that he holds one handed speaks volumes. He wears a long coat of brown, similar to the one Wyatt favours from the war. His chest and body are protected by Alliance brand plate armour. He steps out and then steps back immediately, also caught in the surprise of the faux-farm landscape.

Jim fires his warning shot into the dirt, six feet away from the young boy, who reacts with the terror of someone who has never been shot at before and runs back to the hatchway.

“WHO THE AI YAH TIEN AH ARE YOU?” Jim shouts out from the homestead.

“AND STAY OUT OF MY MATERS!” Sam adds.

A gruff voice, like the sound of dry leaves breaking under foot, calls out from the doorway. “Listen! We ain’t looking for trouble. Some XXX waylaid us on the way here and we thought they might want to tussle a bit more. I’m looking for Sam Hawkes. There is a bounty on his head that I aims to collect. Now we can play it soft or we play it hard. Soft, I send my partner up to the house and you send Sam down. My boy will serve as a safe passage mark to show how goodhearted I can be.”

There is a pause. Whispering can be heard but not loud enough to make sense.

“Or we play it hard.” He calls out and an audible whine can be heard. Those of you with military background recognize the whine – the arming of an explosive device. “Your choice!” he calls out.

Jim calls downstairs, “Sam? You holding out on me?”

“Hell no! I don’t have a XXX what this guy is talking about. Who’d put a bounty on me?”

“Consortium?” Jim conjures, “Their way of messing with us?”

“Could be. Nothing says Consortium like hired goons. But they’s more likely to get good old boys with clubs, not bounty hunters. too sophisticated for consortium.”

“It’s a trap Sam.” Kora says outloud, “I feel it in my gut. This is a trap.”

OOC: Stopping to let you react. I don’t want to run the entire scene without input. I did add conversation from players but you can add or object if you wish.

Ash lined up his shot perfect with the hatch. The lad was not sniper by any means, had never been in a military. But he and his brothers often had practiced putting holes in Blue Sun cans from quite a distance, and Asher had hunted ground hounds. [OOC: like a fox/gopher mix] That… and all the fightin' he had down back on Ezra against Gayner’s gang.

When the hatch hissed up, Asher nearly cursed out loud at the crates stacked up for cover.
A boy stood just off to the side of the crates, looking all of maybe16 years old and dressed like a school boy – even has a backpack on. A farmhand, like Ash, maybe… except for the ballistic vest and the guns strapped to his sides and one on the left leg.

The boy starts to move towards the house, looking like he is going to draw his guns and charge. Asher shifted his sights on the lad. “Want me to take the Nien Ching Duh {“young one”} out, Cap’n?”

[OOC: Assuming a “hmmm maybe not yet” reply]

The boy slowed down, and then actually stops – looking around at the dome environment and the vegetable garden with an uncontained sense of wonder. Asher smiled… Yep! Farmhand, fer sure! What’s he doing here?
The next man through was one of the biggest men Ash had ever seen. A barrel-chested man with wavy brown hair, crooked teeth and a nose that looked like it had been broken more than once.

“Now, that guy looks like one bad Wei Shian Dohn Wu {“dangerous person”}. Check out that purdy military issue gun, Dash. That sweet baby’s all dressed up for all sorts of foul play. Even gots a grenade launcher on there.”

The faux-farm catches even the big man off guard, and he moves behind the crates before Ash can get a clear shot.

Jim fires his warning shot into the dirt, six feet away from the young boy, who reacts with the terror of someone who has never been shot at before and runs back to the hatchway.

“WHO THE AI YAH TIEN AH ARE YOU?” Jim shouts out from the homestead.

“AND STAY OUT OF MY MATERS!” Sam adds.

A gruff voice, like the sound of dry leaves breaking under foot, calls out from the doorway. “Listen! We ain’t looking for trouble. Some XXX waylaid us on the way here and we thought they might want to tussle a bit more. I’m looking for Sam Hawkes. There is a bounty on his head that I aims to collect. Now we can play it soft or we play it hard. Soft, I send my partner up to the house and you send Sam down. My boy will serve as a safe passage mark to show how goodhearted I can be.”

There is a pause. Whispering can be heard but not loud enough to make sense.

“Or we play it hard.” He calls out and an audible whine can be heard. “Your choice!” he calls out.

Jim calls downstairs, “Sam? You holding out on me?”

“Hell no! I don’t have a XXX what this guy is talking about. Who’d put a bounty on me?”

“Consortium?” Jim conjures, “Their way of messing with us?”

“Could be. Nothing says Consortium like hired goons. But they’s more likely to get good old boys with clubs, not bounty hunters. too sophisticated for consortium.”

“It’s a trap Sam.” Kora says outloud, “I feel it in my gut. This is a trap.”

Asher tried to line up a shot on the big guy. “Cap’n, I can only get a clear shot on the kid. Those crates are blocking my view of the crazy man with the gun. Lines of sight any better down there? Or you want me to stay put here?”

[OOC: Tag Cap'n]

[OOC: I'm assuming we've got some sort of comm set that we're using to communicate to each other. If that's not the case, ignore my conversation stuff with the Cap'n if it means Asher would have to yell downstairs. He won't be yelling.]

“Ta Ma Duh,” Wyatt muttered under his breath as the doors opened to reveal the tactical position of the approaching team. He shifted his pistol in his hand and looked over at Kora. “That boy look all gloss-eyed to you?” He didn’t need much of a response though he acknowledges any that’s made as he turns his attention back to the unfolding scene.

Wyatt’s brow furrows as the kid hot-foots it back into the safety of the bay. That ain’t no greenhorn, that Sah Gwa is a Yo Chr! Ain’t got no business being harnessed t’ steel. Frowning Sung sniffed and looked again to Kora to see whether she was under the same impression as he. His personal com scrambled to life as Asher’s voice crackled over it: Want me to take the Nien Ching Duh out, Cap’n?
Wyatt reached into his pocket with his free hand and activated his end. “Negative. That boy’s not our trouble.” The captain looked past him to the bay just as the warning shot rang out. He eyed the other two men with more trepidation—a lot more.

“WHO THE AI YA TIEN AH ARE YOU?”…”AND STAY OUT OF MY MATERS!”

“Listen! We ain’t looking for trouble. Some @#$% waylaid us on the way here and we thought they might want to tussle a bit more. I’m looking for Sam Hawkes. There is a bounty on his head that I aims to collect. Now we can play it soft, or we can play it hard. Soft, I send my partner up to the house and you send Sam down. My boy will serve as a safe passage mark to show how good-hearted I can be…Or we play it hard. Your choice.”

Wyatt heard that whine. A noise that gave cause to a momentary closing of the eyes and a heavy, deep breath. This was not a good thing.

“They got more hardware than a Dohn luh mah task force,” Wyatt uttered into the com. “Now, they could be bluffin’ seeing that should they blow up the place they’re gonna be floating bloated-like in the Black same as us, but let’s not count on them being nothing more than a Chwen and play it careful.” He didn’t say that there was more than one Sam there, and he’d lay money to draft that these fellows weren’t here for a kindly prospector worried about his ‘maters.

“It’s a trap Sam. I feel it in my gut. This is a trap.” Kora said, and Wyatt couldn’t agree more.

Cap’n, I can only get a clear shot on the kid. Those crates are blocking my view of the crazy man with the gun. Lines of sight any better down there? Or you want me to stay put here?”
“Hold tight Ash. This’s just getting started. Should the worse of it start you need to focus that shooter on the big guys, not the little fellow. He’s likely to either hunker down and wet ‘imself, or do something real stupid by way of heroics. Either way, he won’t be a problem.”

Wyatt turned and glanced at Sam. “They blow this, what kind of containment you got?”

The captain nodded by way of recognition when Sam responded. Any way you looked at it those large guns and that explosive device spelled trouble with a capital T. Wyatt pulled back the hammer of his Colt with his thumb.

Gm’s Note – To play this out as best as I could, I worked with Vanadia as to figure out who would do what under such a situation. Normally I would let you play it out, but I delayed this for so long I didn’t want to do a small post and risk not moving again. So if anyone has a major objection to an action here, let me know.
“It’s a trap Sam. I feel it in my gut. This is a trap.” Kora said, and Wyatt couldn’t agree more.

"Cap’n, I can only get a clear shot on the kid. Those crates are blocking my view of the crazy man with the gun. Lines of sight any better down there? Or you want me to stay put here?”

“Hold tight Ash. This’s just getting started. Should the worse of it start you need to focus that shooter on the big guys, not the little fellow. He’s likely to either hunker down and wet ‘imself, or do something real stupid by way of heroics. Either way, he won’t be a problem.”

Wyatt turned and glanced at Sam. “They blow this, what kind of containment you got?”

Sam Hawkes laughed nervously, “It has some self sealing capacity but I ain’t too keen to test it out right now.“

The captain nodded by way of recognition when Sam responded. Any way you looked at it those large guns and that explosive device spelled trouble with a capital T. Wyatt pulled back the hammer of his Colt with his thumb.

That dead voice returned to the comm.” Tell you what I’m going to do. To show a sign of … good faith, I’m gonna send my partner up to the house with the warrant. Then you can decide what to do.”

“What!” A female voice comes across the comm, “You can’t …” and the comm. goes quiet.

It takes a few moments but the young kid starts to head towards the homestead slowly. His guns are holstered and he holds a document in an envelope in one hand and his other held up in the air. He moves very slowly as he comes closer and closer to the home. With the backpack, he looks like a school boy coming to hand in late homework to a school marm.

“Why is he wearing a backpack?” Kora asks out loud. ‘It looks heavy too.”

“Good question,” Hawkes nods.

He is about 20 feet from the front door when its hits Kora, “It’s a bomb. It’s a gorram bomb.”

“What?” Hawkes looks over.

“The backpack is a bomb. The kid is the diversion!”

As Kora and Wyatt react to stop the kid from coming any closer, it happens. One minute the kid is there, the next there is a bright flash of an explosion. Hawkes reels back covering his eyes as shrapnel from the bomb peppers the house. The holographic windows are sure pretty, and against a flashbang, they filter out some of the damaging light but they don’t do squat to stop flying debris.

Wyatt instinctively dives for cover beneath the window. He feels a burning sensation in his shoulder (1 W, absorbed by ballistic vest, so 1 S) and leg (1 W) but ignores it for the moment. Kora dives to the side and manages to escape the scatter. Sam Hawkes is on the ground and bleeding in several places.

The big man is on the move with Gatling in hand.

Upstairs, Jim, Dash and Asher are protected by the holographic windows from the light, but they also have to duck for cover. As they do, Ernest Ludlow takes advantage of the distraction and fires a grenade from his launcher directly at the upstairs of the house. His aim is off due to the running and the grenade misses the window, exploding against the side. The wood absorbs a lot of the damage before splintering inward. The three men dive for the stairs to safety but the explosion does damage. Jim falls down and crashes against the stair banister. He is unconscious and beat up badly. Asher and Sam are both wounded but not enough to stop them (both of you take 5W/5S, but the ballistic vest makes it 4W/6S). The two of them come tumbling down the stairs to the main floor.

A woman’s voice cries out loudly in despair from the hatch. “Oh my God! You killed Kenny! You Bastard!”

Outside, the holographic roof changes to dark clouds as the automatic fire retention system starts to spray water on the homestead to douse the fire.

Downstairs, Willow hears all of this though the floorboards. The explosion, the crashing of bodies to the floor and a woman’s voice crying out in pain over the demise of someone named Kenny.

OOC: Asher and Dash can use plot points to roll back some damage if they feel necessary.

Sung’s mind reeled momentarily from the blast. The burning sensations in his leg and shoulder instantly being recognized for what they were. Rolling to his side, Wyatt peered about the room quickly assessing their situation.

“Kora! You hit?”

(OOC: Assuming a negative.)

“Lio Coh Jwei Ji Neong Hur Ho Deh Yung Duh Buhn Jah J’wohn!” slipping his legs underneath him, Wyatt pulled himself to a crouch and leaned back against the wall. He couldn’t believe they’d just blown one of their own—and a kid at that—by way of a distraction! The very thought filled the captain with rage and the reality of it fueled the fire. His face became a cold mask that those who knew him well recognized as his “killin’ face”.

He worried about his crew somewhere deep inside, but right now, the fierce indignation of the methodology these people used angered him to feeling a desire to exact revenge something akin to when he’d discovered Eden and Summer’d been murdered. It wasn’t as strong as that, but it awakened a piece of that in him once more and the captain wasn’t about to let these Go Neong Yung Duh a chance to escape. As far as he was concerned, they just sealed and signed their death warrants and with the danger they presented, he’d need to worry about everyone’s condition after they’d taken care of the immediate threat.

Popping up to the window, Wyatt tried his best to catch sight of the man with the Gatling. As soon as he does, he’ll squeeze off three rounds in quick succession, two for the man’s head, one for his body… just in case.

Willow’s training had taught her the value of patience: that the very act of surrendering oneself to time and fate could have its own rewards. This was not one of those times.

She sat in the basement, arms crossed around her shoulders in a hug and shivered, not from any cold, but from fear. Fear for herself, fear for her friends, fear for Sam and Jim, even fear for the people aboard the other ship. She didn’t know what was worse: the waiting and the not knowing, or the partial knowing from the muffled sounds coming from above. Each shout, each blast of gunfire, and that final, terrifying whump of an explosion were blows against the tattered shreds of her calm, and she shuddered with each sound.

When she heard the feminine cry of pain and despair, Willow froze, here eyes wide. She knew it wasn’t Kora, but instinct propelled her up the stairs towards the door. Before she could open the door, though, she stopped herself in indecision. She was hopeless in a combat situation and she knew it; more importantly, the captain knew it and had gotten her out of the way for a reason.

“You’ll just freeze in the crosshairs of someone’s gun,” she told herself, hearing her mother’s musical singsong voice, ”and someone will have to be a hero to save you, and maybe get themselves hurt or killed in doing so. Sit your skinny self down and wait for the all clear or silence.”

Kora pop off a few rounds with her Falcon at the man but missed him as he ran low and towards the door. He returned fire, sending a deadly burst at kora, or rather the place Kora had been standing before her instincts took over to make her jump to the side and downwards again. The assassin was shooting from the hip and on the move, which made him shoot high and missed Kora.

As the big man got close to the house, Wyatt appeared in the window and Ernest moved his gun towards the Captain. It wasn’t Sam Hawkes, so Ernest wasn’t worried about mowing down this man with the cold eyes and murder on his face.

Then he took a hit, to the shoulder that spun him slightly. The shot that took him wasn’t from the house, it was from the hatchway where he’d come out, fired by a red haired women who looked very much like the boy killed as a distraction.

Distractions were a deadly thing in combat. Ernest allowed himself to look at Penny with amazement. Wyatt firsts round hit him solidly in the upper chest, where his plate vest ended and was thinnest. The next round took him in the throat, and the last bore a perfect round hole between his eyes and sent his brains scrambling out the back of his head.

Ernest Ludlow’s body followed its last action to the end, finger locking on the trigger and arm rising, but his legs gave out before then and the automatic fire of the weapon just dug up dirt as he collapsed. The girl came running up, tears in her eyes screaming incomprehensively in Chinese as she stopped over the former bounty hunter and fired bullet after bullet into the dead man’s body. Once empty, she dropped her rifle and fell to her knees, wailing for the death of Kenny. The fire retardant system had put an end to the fire, and the holographic skies began to disperse the dark clouds and allow the artificial sun to shine again.

The fight seemed over, but then the hatchway opened again and two men came out. Both were obviously members of the same red-haired family/clan, one with a full head of red and the other balding with thin long red coming down the back and sides. Neither men are armed. They hold up their hands where they could be seen as they slowly approached the scene of the misfortune.

OOC: For Willow – Jim is critically injured and will need help first. Sam and Asher are serious, but can wait and Wyatt is superficially wounded.

Wyatt – extraordinary success on two out of three shots. Kora got a good roll on the “get out of Harm’s Way” reaction

Once, when a rare storm rolled across the perfect blue skies back home, little Willow had been terrified and hid in a closet. Her older brother, Kiyoshi, was the one to find her, and settled down beside the scared toddler, holding her to his ten year old chest. When her sobs had quieted, Kiyoshi stroked the hair out of her eyes and smiled encouragingly down at her.

“You know how to know if a storm’s passing, don’t you?” he murmured into the top of her head. “No? It’s easy. Watch for a flash of lightning, then count until you hear the thunder. Do it a second time and if the count is higher, the storm’s going away. If it’s less, we have to stay in here for a while longer. Make sense, mei mei? Let’s count together then.”

Willow looked up at her brave, smart brother and nodded, tears forgotten. Chubby child hand gripping Kiyoshi’s firmly, she counted with her brother, then counted again. When she knew the storm was already starting to fade, she crawled out of the closet, into her mother’s laughing and scolding embrace. Kiyoshi came out to stand by them both, and she looked over her mother’s shoulder to stare at him with hero worship in her eyes.
Willow thought of her brother as she stood by the door and remembered the storm trick. There was no lightning down here, but surely she could count the moments between gun blasts? There! One, two, three…another shot! One, two, a double blast! One, two, three, four…

On and on she counted, only to start over, the ebb and flow of gunfire and explosions as senseless as hate itself. After a woman started keening, Willow realized she’d counted to ten without being interrupted by fresh gunfire or explosion.

“That’s close enough for me!,” she muttered, pulling the door open and running in a crouch to the living room. Reaching the stairs leading up to the second story, she found Jim unconscious and sprawled on the stairs, Sam and Asher standing over him (OOC: pardon the assumption here and further…can tweak if necessary).

Willow dropped to her knees as close to Jim as she could manage, checking the strength of his pulse and noting the multiple puncture wounds from wood shrapnel. A quick glance up at her crewmates assured her that they, too, were injured, but not as critically as Jim.

“I need one of you to put pressure on these wounds, here and here, the ones that are spurting. Don’t turn that shade of green, I need you to help while I check the rest of the crew! Yes, that’s it, loves, I’ll be right back.”

Setting the two fighters to work as pressure bandage holders, Willow continued out to the hatchway, spotting Sung first. “Captain-san, “she whispered urgently,” what’s the situation out there? Am I needed? You’ve got blood on your shoulder, but you’re standing…what about everyone else? Jim’s badly off, I’m going to need the medical bay to save him.”

Even after the third round was released, Wyatt Sung stood picturesque, right side turned towards the target, arm outstretched, his sights following the dead man to the ground. He was cold inside, like a man who knew he was destined to burn in Hell and who, in his resignation, had decided that there weren’t no one who would stand in the way of his descent. He’d faced many a big damn bad-guy, and there’d often been the cold, welling rage that surfaced in those encounters. It was a rage that he knew only too well; a rage that was companion to his deepest depression: the harbinger of the sickness that had led to his drinking. It was the fury that had caused him to slaughter those men who’d taken everything from him. It had caused him to walk into that bar with a scattergun and leave no one standing, but the staff. And it was who he was at the moment, fully embodied.

Still standing with his arm outstretched, the captain watched as the red-head rushed towards the corpse. He didn’t change position much, but his gun sights jumped to her pretty little head, and then to the bay door where two more men came through. He itched to end them all, to bring about the hell that they’d wished upon his, but tiny strings of civility clung tightly to his conscious despite the sawtooth action vengeance took to cut them free and he remained still until they had descended into the homestead a little, arms up-raised.

“Stand where you are, or sure as I cleaned his brainpan, I’ll clean the lot o’ yours.”

(OOC: assuming they stop)

“I assume the Sah Gwa that’s now lookin’ to fertilize our host’s ‘maters was the Lurn Shwei Jah Jwohn that ran yer operation,” Wyatt’s voice was cold and held nothing but death in it. “Seein’ how the lot o’ ya tossed aside as soon as he ate dust, that is. It also didn’t pass by me that the li’l miss seemed right bent on killin’ him had I not had the honor, so I’ll wager that yer none to pleased with the killin’ o’ Kenny.

“See? This is where I’m supposed t’ start givin’ a damn ‘bout ya all bein’ human and such, but I’m gonna need some pretty sweet talkin’ t’ keep me from puttin’ the lot o’ you into my airlock and pressing go. I don’t take kindly t’ no one treatin’ such perfectly amicable hosts as we’ve had with such straightforward rudeness as I seen here an’ I sure as hell don’t take kindly t’ people shootin’ up what’s mine. So one o’ you better speak up and say your piece quick while the rest o’ you hold mighty still.”

Behind him, the captain could hear Willow emerge and begin taking charge of the carnage. As usual, her presence did a bit to calm him, but not enough for him to lower his iron.

“Captain-san? What’s the situation out there? Am I needed? You’ve got blood on your shoulder, but you’re standing… what about everyone else? Jim’s badly off, I’m going to need the medical bay to save him.”

Wyatt swallowed back a curt retort. It had never really been intended for her anyway. Taking a breath he never took his eyes off those outside while he answered.

“Looks t’ me like it’s about over. You should have a pretty clear shot getting the wounded back to Rocinante. The rest o’ us’ll stay and make sure the Ma fuhn goes away. Who all is wounded?” Receiving his answer, Wyatt clenched his jaw and started to feel the little bit of pain from his own wound. Mentally shrugging it off, the captain gave an almost imperceptible nod and reiterated. “Git on to Rocinante, Willow. Take care o’ the wounded.”

“I assume the Sah Gwa that’s now lookin’ to fertilize our host’s ‘maters was the Lurn Shwei Jah Jwohn that ran yer operation,” Wyatt’s voice was cold and held nothing but death in it. “Seein’ how the lot o’ ya tossed aside as soon as he ate dust, that is. It also didn’t pass by me that the li’l miss seemed right bent on killin’ him had I not had the honor, so I’ll wager that yer none to pleased with the killin’ o’ Kenny.

“See? This is where I’m supposed t’ start givin’ a damn ‘bout ya all bein’ human and such, but I’m gonna need some pretty sweet talkin’ t’ keep me from puttin’ the lot o’ you into my airlock and pressing go. I don’t take kindly t’ no one treatin’ such perfectly amicable hosts as we’ve had with such straightforward rudeness as I seen here an’ I sure as hell don’t take kindly t’ people shootin’ up what’s mine. So one o’ you better speak up and say your piece quick while the rest o’ you hold mighty still.”

The oldest of the group looks up from staring at the remains of Kenny’s body. ‘Sir, we ain’t lookin’ to fight you and we weren’t lookin’ from the beginning. Mr. Ludlow hired us to bring him here and back to Regina. Told us he was picking up a someone named Hawkes and we’d be heading back and we’d get paid. Said some woman wanted to see him. He was hard demanding man with a devil of an influence on poor Kenny. I should have done something then, and I pays the price. It was only when we arrived that things got nasty and fast. Suddenly he was after a criminal and there was a bounty and he had a ton of guns and buddha knows what. We just want to collect our brother and get going. If you be really needin’ to kill someone, then you can kill me for my sorrows but let Penny and Denny here go.”

”We’s ain’t going anywheres Lenny.” The balding one said glumly, “Them there gizmos and dodas are fried in the ship. We stuck tight like a tick on a dog.”

Lenny sighed and shook his head, “Well ain’t that the half of it.” As if a wave washes over the older brother, he shudders and tries hard to hold back tears. “Please have mercy sir. I was just looking to keep my family fed and now …”

Although Asher and Sam are wounded, they are able to get themselves moving. Kora helps Sam up to find that although winded, his wounds are superficial so he came get around on his own. Sam goes over the closet to find an emergency foldup stretcher that him and Kora can use to move Jim to the Ship’s medical bay. All the while, Sam Hawkes fusses over Jim, ‘you don’t die on me. I ain’t working this claim without you boy and I ain’t cleaning up your mess.”

“You can save him, Can’t you Miss Willow?” he asks quietly as they prepare to move him.

Wyatt watched their every move with the cold, calculating eye of a killer as the oldest of the group looked up from the mangled remains of the young man. ‘Sir, we ain’t lookin’ to fight you and we weren’t lookin’ from the beginning. Mr. Ludlow hired us to bring him here and back to Regina. Told us he was picking up a someone named Hawkes and we’d be heading back and we’d get paid. Said some woman wanted to see him. He was hard demanding man with a devil of an influence on poor Kenny. I should have done something then, and I pays the price. It was only when we arrived that things got nasty and fast. Suddenly he was after a criminal and there was a bounty and he had a ton of guns and buddha knows what. We just want to collect our brother and get going. If you be really needin’ to kill someone, then you can kill me for my sorrows but let Penny and Denny here go.”

”We’s ain’t going anywheres Lenny.” The balding one said glumly, “Them there gizmos and dodas are fried in the ship. We stuck tight like a tick on a dog.”

Lenny sighed and shook his head, “Well ain’t that the half of it.” He shuddered and looked to Wyatt like he was about to cry. “Please have mercy sir. I was just looking to keep my family fed and now …”

Behind him Sam Hawkes fussed over Jim having retrieved a stretcher for his friend to lie upon, ‘you don’t die on me. I ain’t working this claim without you boy and I ain’t cleaning up your mess.”

“You can save him, Can’t you Miss Willow?” the prospector asked quietly as they prepared to move him.

“Lio Coh Jwei Neong Hur Ho Deh Yung Duh Buhn Jah J’wohn!” Wyatt swore under his breath. He’d been so hoping to vent some more of his righteous rage on these backwards folk, but now he felt all of that anger flying away faster than a pheasant on the wing, replaced, as was its pattern, by disgust with himself for allowing his anger to well up inside. Sure, he’d remained as cool as an iceman in the Arctic of Earth that Was on the outside, but inside he was a smelting pot of everything a human being could muster that was negative and dangerous… until now. At that point, he became sullen and disconnected, wanting nothing more than to get back to the ship, make sure his people were taken care of, and to drown himself in whiskey.

“Strip to yer skivvies, the lot o’ you. I want t’ make sure none o’ you are packin’ no heat. Then step to an’ bring yourselves right up to the porch here.” More quietly, Sung said out of the corner of his mouth, “Kora, keep an eye on them, I’m going out t’ meet ‘em.”

(OOC: assuming no objections or the like)

Wyatt didn’t sheathe iron, but kept his Colt in hand as he made his way to the front door and onto the porch where he could watch their approach. He held his handgun at hip level, but ready none-the-less, watching as they stripped clean of any possible weapons. He felt for them, understood the agony of losing someone you love to the ideals of someone else’s war, but he couldn’t afford too much sympathy right now.

“Now,” the captain said with ice in his tone and danger in his eyes. “I want to know everything you know’d ‘bout this Ludlow. Be quick ‘bout it.” His wound was smarting and the smell of the fight was still in the air. The combination of which was enough to make him a Wei Shian Dohn Woo should they decide to do something foolish.