Redemption (Rated T) - A Pirate/Fleet RP

[Rider]

[glow=red,2,300]"...since when do I get left out of conversations between the Cap'n and Sev?"

"It's nothing personal," Rider said, grateful for movable timelines. She made a mental note to tell Chikkin later that someone probably had to keep an eye on Keng.

Getting Keng involved would be a bad idea. She was Fleet, she was pirate, oh yes, and she was more inclined to side with Cyborg than either Guild. In short, she was a liability.

Rider knew she was trying too hard to scare her old ship-mate away. And sooner or later that would bite her in the butt. Not before Keng made a mess of things, though. [/glow]

[Albatross]

Redemption.

There were a lot of wrongs commited over the course of the war. Some dated back to before the war. Good names were soiled by blood, good leaders soiled by abuse of power. Good guilds were sullied by their leaders.

An albatross circled overhead, pulled into a dive and skimmed the water in circles around the paddling Cyborg. From the depths, Cyborg thought he could hear voices.

" Hey Keng what happened? Where are ya goin?"

" HEY THAT MANGY, FLEA-BITTEN, GOOD FER NAUGHT, LOUT O' A CANID, SWABBY HAPPENS TO BE MY BEST FRIEND ON THIS SHIP,"

" Tell Hunty I said good bye."

"There will be death."

" Ok, but I kill Hunty. I swore revenge for Keng and I will get it."

And above Cyborg's voice,

"No Cyborg. This isn't your fault."

He could feel the bile rising in his throat, that burning fury that had driven him to be so single-mindedly focused on revenge. He had been the leader of the mercenaries... but he was so caught up in the past that he could not take care of his friends in the present.

The sea lapped against Cyborg's fur, rocking him gently, almost hypnotically. For a moment, it felt as though a great weight had descended on the Kougra's neck.

Miles away, Hunty could hear Leraye. "I want to thank you in advance for what you're going to do for me." Fraze could feel Strife's lifeless energy. "This means war." Each one guilty of harboring a known danger. Each of thier guilds damaged by it.

Cyborg knew that this is what they were hearing, as surely as if he had heard it himself. He knew they were feeling with weight as he was, but what would happen next was his alone.

When his mind had cleared, his paws subconciously went to his throat. There was a marking on it, slightly darker than the rest of his fur. A seabird, spread-eagled, as if viewed from above.

The old sailor's superstition. The harbinger of good luck, so long as it was alive, the burden one must carry until redeemed. The albatross.

[Fraze]

Merpo was having a very strange day. Aside from the usual rituals of shopping, going to restaurants and so forth, it had been years since he had interacted with people this much. Add to that just how...odd these pirates were, and he wasn't sure if this was the best day he'd had in a long time, or the worst.
Someone came through the door, wearing Spacefleet clothing. It would have been narratively fitting to say that Merpo was surprised by this, but he wasn't--this was, after all, the spaceport. But despite not being surprised, he was nervous--he didn't want Spacefleet catching on to what they were going to do. He became even more nervous when he realized that the 'Fleeter apparently knew the pirates.
Merpo was so caught up in thought that he failed to see the 'Fleeter throw something, which then hit him in the head quite painfully. His hat fell off. This day was definitely steering in the direction of worse rather than better. The pirates had somehow gotten distracted from buying tickets, now once again talking about resurrecting someone.

Then the phoenix showed up, and Merpo just gave up trying to understand what was going on altogether.

------------------

Ikkin didn't seem to be enjoying the food. In fact, she looked rather ill. While it was true that it wasn't all that good, Fraze was fairly certain that his taste buds hadn't died quite that much.
Eventually, she got up. "Thank you for your hospitality," she said. "I really do need to be getting back now, but here's hoping that our discussion can bring a new sense of cooperation between the guilds." A second later, the phoenix appeared at Ikkin's side.
"Of course. We are looking forward to the exchange, and hope that our guilds will be able to benefit one another by our mutual cooperation. I hope we'll meet again."

Ikkin disappeared. Fraze sighed, and sat back down. Diplomacy was one of the most terrifying things he had ever done. He turned back to his burger--one of the better options on the cafeteria menu--and took another large bite of it.

Finishing his burger, Fraze decided to check on the scientist who had borrowed his suit. Speaking into his comm, he said, "Computer, can you give me a list of the scientists working on the TMC bike?"
The information wasn't restricted, so the list flashed before his eyes. "What was the guy's name...not that, not that, definitely not that--how the heck do you pronounce Tnglqrrvc-wb without exploding or something?--ah, here we go. Patch me through to Brian, please."
The comm chimed its assent. "Brian? This is Spec Ops Fraze. Have you finished the tests you needed to do?"

[Omni]

"Brian? This is Spec Ops Fraze. Have you finished the tests you needed to do?"

Brian tried not to spill the suit as he spoke into his communicator. "Yeah. In fact, I was just heading to return the suit. Are you still at the cafeteria? If so, would it be too much to ask you to stay there for a few more minutes?"

----------

With Siber following behind, Ethan walked into the cafeteria. He noticed an especially familiar face and walked toward it. "Hey, Fraze! Mind if I join you?" As he asked, he went through the menu on his hard drive.

[Cyborg]

" Fine Sev, I`ll go, but I will still talk to Hunty. Can you tell me anything about the thing on my neck perhaps?" Cyborg asked pointing to the albatross.

[Fraze]

"Yeah. In fact, I was just heading to return the suit," came the somewhat startled reply. "Are you still at the cafeteria? If so, would it be too much to ask you to stay there for a few more minutes?"
Fraze had wanted to leave. He was in need of rest, after both the negotiations and, before that, a simultaneously infuriating and exhausting several-day trip back to his old HQ. "Sure, I'll be here," he answered. "I'm at one of the tables toward the front, on the left from the entrance."

As though it were preordained, Fraze heard a familiar voice at that moment. "Hey, Fraze! Mind if I join you?" Ethan asked.
"Sure, have a seat. I'm going to be meeting someone in a few minutes, but I don't think he'll be staying long."
Fraze glanced down curiously at Ethan's dejected-looking companion. "What's Siber carrying?"

[Jina]

Anester watched the pirates walk away. She got up, and then found a new target. Lots of gold. And if she was going where she was with all of it on, she was asking to be stolen from. This would even make up for her recent loss.

Anester fell in behind Joce Farlap.

-.-.-.-.-.-

Jina followed Speck and the instructions of the weasels to the spaceport. Some of the crew were there, and some people Jina didn't recognise. In fact, she really couldn't help but stare at the colourful weirdo.

"Let me guess," she said. "You're by Picasso?"

[Kat]

"Where are we and what are we doing here?"

"Uh...trying to figure out what's going on, right? Remember?"

"We know that, Jingleheimer. But really, where are we?"

"Don't dang ask me, I wasn't born here."

"In that case, neither were we."

"This is cra - oops!"

Jacob walked right into Anester. And after that, John and Jingleheimer wound up walking right into their brother.

"Forgive me," said Jacob, quickly dusting himself. "Would you happen to know where we are right now?"

[Kengplant]

"Let me guess, you're by Picasso?"

It wasn't that Keng hadn't noticed him before, it's just that she hadn't considered him to be of any consequence. Some stray by-passer at most. It only occurred to her now that he might be with the pirates.
"No, Picasso did make funny paintings but his colours couldn't quite compare to this guy. No, Picasso was a bit more subdued in colours. I'd have to say Hans Hoffman. He was really into that whole the picture is a bunch of colours idea. Still, as far as bright clothing goes he doesn't quite compare to the ambassador of Tel-fregan. She was essentially a walking light show. It was pretty cool. The colour patterns changed and swayed through the air with her clothing. It was customary of her planet for diplomats to do a dance when meeting. Sure couldn't miss her in a crowd." Keng then realized she was rambling and stopped.

[Huntress]

"But he's still worth about as much," Hunty remarked, poking her head in through the half-opened door. "You might wanna come outside, guys. We're gonna create a traffic jam in here this way." And letting the local fleeters hear way too much.

Her eyes darted to Keng. This was a complicated case. Hunty still considered Keng to be a pirate, and in her world pirates came before any other alliances, so for her the werewolf was a full-time pirate who was doing some weird space-surfing on the side, but she was still fully aware that this would turn into an inconvenient double-alliance.

But then again - and she smiled grimly at that thought - Keng was probably the last person to betray Cyborg, wasn't she?

The captain turned to squint at the sky. It must've been around noon by now. The earlier they get to leave, the better. Not to mention, the spaceships probably had decent food. The sausage inna bun she'd had in the morning didn't seem to be fond of staying down.

[Fraze]

Merpo was mentally ordering his extensive collection of scientific literature based on the number of letters in each title, when he realized someone seemed to be speaking to him.
"Let me guess, you're by Picasso?"
Merpo's eyes widened and hiis head jerked up. "Huh? Uh, I--no, I've never lived near him. I think. Why?"
After several seconds of awkward silence, he understood what the girl was saying. "Oh! You meant m-my clothes? They're...comfortable..." He waved his hands in a vague gesture that intended to serve some purpose, but he didn't know what.

The 'Fleeter who had entered earlier chimed in.
"No, Picasso did make funny paintings but his colours couldn't quite compare to this guy. No, Picasso was a bit more subdued in colours. I'd have to say Hans Hoffman. He was really into that whole the picture is a bunch of colours idea. Still, as far as bright clothing goes he doesn't quite compare to the ambassador of Tel-fregan. She was essentially a walking light show. It was pretty cool. The colour patterns changed and swayed through the air with her clothing. It was customary of her planet for diplomats to do a dance when meeting. Sure couldn't miss her in a crowd."
To his surprise, Merpo understood at least the second half of what the 'Fleeter was talking about. "T-Tel-fregan? I'm a bit...out-of-date on current politics, but I thought we--I mean, I thought Spacefleet was refusing any diplomatic p-proceedings with Tel-fregan. Something about weapon trading. Maybe I'm thinking of--someone else."
After saying this Merpo aware that he had just established a connection between himself and Spacefleet. But he was in the Tabloid Town Spaceport, so it shouldn't have come as a surprise.

"You might wanna come outside, guys. We're gonna create a traffic jam in here this way."
"O--oh. Yes." Merpo walked vaguely toward the door, ready to follow his new acquaintances outside.

[Kengplant]

"Ahhh, from the fleet are you?" Keng asked Merpo as she followed him out the door. He seemed rather undecided about it though, like he wasn't sure exactly where the door was. "No, Tel-fregan isn't much interested in weapons. They're portal, wormhole and time travel masters. They don't believe in alliances; they believe that they only lead inevitably to war. As a result of this they're very business oriented, and won't act on any engagement until a contract has been reached and officialized. We're undergoing negotiations with them for a collaborative science project. We need them more than they need us so right now it's a question of what we have to offer them in return. They don't do favors. They think it complicates issues and implies an alliance." she explained. This was common knowledge up at the fleet. The project that they were seeking aid on however was classified, and involved a certain bike. Of course the fleet was also interested in portal and wormhole technology as a means of rapid travel, so the cover up response was transportation if anyone asked.

[Ikkin]

"It's nothing personal," Rider said, then moved on to her own thoughts. Ikkin wondered if she wanted to say more than she let on, but she wasn't really sure what that could be.

Ikkin's own attention was drawn elsewhere when Jina came in and said, "Let me guess, you're by Picasso?" She wondered how she possibly could have missed the colorful weirdo who had been tagging along with the pirates - maybe she'd been up at Spacefleet for too long or something.

The weird colorful guy responded before Ikkin could say anything. "Huh? Uh, I--no, I've never lived near him. I think. Why?" Clearly not from around here, Ikkin thought. After a few seconds, he continued, "Oh! You meant m-my clothes? They're...comfortable..." gesturing in a way that clearly meant nothing. Ikkin wasn't sure what this guy was doing with the Pirates, but she was certainly starting to get suspicious of him.

"No, Picasso did make funny paintings but his colours couldn't quite compare to this guy," Keng said. "No, Picasso was a bit more subdued in colours. I'd have to say Hans Hoffman. He was really into that whole the picture is a bunch of colours idea. Still, as far as bright clothing goes he doesn't quite compare to the ambassador of Tel-fregan. She was essentially a walking light show. It was pretty cool. The colour patterns changed and swayed through the air with her clothing. It was customary of her planet for diplomats to do a dance when meeting. Sure couldn't miss her in a crowd."

"Keng, have you ever wondered whether it's possible to know too much about something?" Ikkin said, amused.

"T-Tel-fregan?" the stranger said. "I'm a bit...out-of-date on current politics, but I thought we--I mean, I thought Spacefleet was refusing any diplomatic p-proceedings with Tel-fregan. Something about weapon trading. Maybe I'm thinking of--someone else."

Hmm, he was trying to hide the fact that he was a Fleeter? Why would he do that? Ikkin definitely didn't like this guy.

Fortunately, Hunty called everyone outside, and the stranger followed the directions. Ikkin gestured to Rider to fall behind so they could talk together. "So, uh, what's going on here, and who's the colorful guy?"


***

"Fine Sev, I`ll go, but I will still talk to Hunty. Can you tell me anything about the thing on my neck perhaps?" Cyborg asked pointing to what appeared to be an albatross-shaped tattoo on his neck.

"I haven't the slightest idea what you get into, and I don't really care to, either. Knowing you, it was probably the result of one too many drinks." With that, Sev swooped down on Cyborg, dug his claws into the Kougra's shoulders as roughly as possible, lifted him bodily out of the water, then disappeared in a flash of fire, conveniently forgetting to lower the flammability of the fire further away from him.

If Cy's fur caught fire, well, that was his own problem.

In a blink of an eye, Sev reappeared right before the pirate cap'n, dropping Cy like a sack of bricks in front of Hunty. "Here's your little pawn. Hope I didn't ruin it too much," he said with a smirk.

[Rider]

[glow=red,2,300]"So, uh, what's going on here, and who's the colorful guy?"

"Our ticket out of this goose-chase and onto more serious things, you can be sure." Rider said, wary all the time of Keng's watchful eyes.

"Oh, look, Sev's back." She examined the @_@ Cyborg. "Looks relatively undamaged." She brushed her fingers over the marking, expecting it to be soot. When it didn't brush off, she glared at the phoenix. "Sev, did you give him a tattoo? ... Never mind, I don't want to know."[/glow]

[Kat]

Kat sighed and stared at Cyborg. "Well, at least he's generally unharmed. Should we keep him under close surveillance?"