Redemption (Rated T) - A Pirate/Fleet RP

[Speck]

Speck rubbed her eyes awake, no longer in Slumberland due to the activity on deck. She had been sleeping on a thick coild of rope until everyone had started coming up from bellow decks.

"Zhwat? What's goin' on?" She asked sleepily as she yawned, "Oh. Now I remember."

Her activity in the second Guild Wars had been somewhat limited. Not long after the ancient armies had been freed from the gem, she had gone to her bunk. She had passed it off as sleepiness when she had been walking down to her wonderfully cozy hammock. In reality, she had felt sick. More sick than that one night she had gotten drunk off of what felt like a thousand different alcoholic beverages. (It had been a silly, dangerous dare.)

She had spent the remainder of the war sick to her stomach. All she had had the energy to do was lie in bed, sleep, and maybe eat or drink. The motion of the boat hadn't helped her ailment, nor had the noise from the outside battle. Most of it had been a blur to her; she had no sense of time back then.

While she had been sick, the scars from her new magic had healed on her wrist and cheek. Only a week after the battles had ended, she felt well enough to think clearly. The only logical explanation she could think of for her sickness, in a world where advanced technology and mythical powers existed side-by-side, was the new magic she had inherited from an ancient mage. Her body, unaccustomed to the power, had put her in bed for those many days.

Now, weeks after her sickness, she stood up from her temporary napping place. A wave of dizziness during the previous night had brought her onto the deck, into the fresh air. She had laid down in the wee hours, gazing up at the stars and clouds until the White Weewoo rocked her to sleep.

Her arms behind her, she stood silent, solemn. She stifled a yawn as her green eyes stared at the apparent traitor.

[Amneiger]

>> Autonomous security systems: Pirate ambassador has arrived.
> Show me.

The image from the security cameras showed a kitsune accompanied by a phoenix. The view jumped from camera to camera as she moved through the station. She didn't seem to be having a great deal of difficulty with the map unit, although for some reason she kept trying to read people's nametags. Curiousity? Or is she hoping to talk to people and would want to know their name first?

Amneiger brought up the files for the ambassador and skimmed through the footage already captured. Judging from the dialogue between the kitsune and the phoenix, the phoenix had teleported the kitsune into the laboratory with the motercycle they'd brought back a few weeks ago without warning her first.

Interesting. In any case, there were negotiations coming up.

"Fraze, Amneiger here. I just wanted to let you know that I'll be listening in through the security system and will be sending any information that might be helpful."

[Kat]

"All right, we all get to keelhaul the landlubber who came up with the idea of dawn watch, 'kay?" said Kat with a shrug, and she couldn't help but grin back as well. "No problem. There should be more than enough of 'em for all of us." She chuckled, but in the middle of her chuckling, she let out another large yawn.

Turning to Jina, the first mate raised an eyebrow. "You better be sober for this trial or else I'm telling Hunty. No rum for me...no way."

Kat sighed. The past wars had been a blur. She had been one of the first to find the gem, and at first, it constantly gave her side effects that ranged from dizziness to fainting, but mostly the latter. After everything, she became a landlubber for a while, catching up on what had been going on with the mages and the knights - and helping rebuild the castle again. Then she received word about Cyborg's trial, and knew that it was something she couldn't miss.

"Ah, here he comes right now. I'd be nervous if I were him."

[Zylaa]

((Jina, we're all up on the deck right now, so your bed is on the deck it seems.))

"You better be sober for this trial or else I'm telling Hunty. No rum for me...no way."

"Alcohol impairs judgement," Zylaa added sagely. "We'll need all the rationality we can get to decide this." Without offending someone, that is, she thought. Traitors should be keelhauled, or flogged, but now that Cyborg was involved with the other guilds things had all gone political. Personally Zylaa didn't mind offending the other guilds a bit-- the pirates could always shoot back, or run away. But now there was Spacefleet to consider. It was hard to run from space lasers.

"Ah, here he comes right now. I'd be nervous if I were him."

"He looks more resentful," Zylaa noted as Rider led the captive up onto the deck.

[Huntress]

"All right, we all get to keelhaul the landlubber who came up with the idea of dawn watch, 'kay?"

"Lovely crew you guys are," Hunty said dryly, ignoring the fact that she felt quite the same way at that point. "We're pirates, remember? If we slept until late afternoon every single day, people would be tossing dice over who gets to shoot us first. If you want good sleep, you need to become knights. Or mages."

She leaned against the railing, watching Cyborg as he was brought to the deck, then, as it was a small deck, overheard the discussion about alcohol and turned her head to look at Jina.

"I just hope you still remember the rules," she said in a voice with snow on it. Hunty didn't approve of alcohol - sailing is delicate business where even the smallest mistake can cost someone's life, and good hand-eye coordination takes training even when sober, but pirates were still pirates and therefore she allowed rum when they were docked or, in this particular case, anchored. That still didn't mean that she liked the idea. And - now she turned to look at Cyborg again - there were quite a few bad memories on this ship involving alcohol. One of which was standing in front of her right now.

Next mutineer won't get this luxury, she thought grimly. I'll just throw a die. One: fed to the meepits. Two: fed to the blarf. Three: keelhauled. Four: marooned. Five: overboard and watch 'em swim to Dunburrow.

She was about to ponder the best option for number six when she realized that it was high time to get started. The captain ran her hand through her hair, then cast a look over her sleepy, grumpy crew, then grinned.

"The way you guys look right now, I'm starting to think that we should just keel him and go back to sleep. Because the verdict probably isn't going to turn out any nicer than that... okay, okay. Dearly beloved, we be gathered here today to pick some old bones that remained unpicked back when they were still nice and ripe, which goes to show what pirates know about gardening, not that you could blame us for that. Now that said bone is 'bout a month old, it's time to dig it up again, so that we can bury it once and for all. Mrmyes."

And that's the second reason for not having trials early in the morning, a more rational (and sadly outvoted) part of her brain thought, as the captain carried on in a more serious tone.

"Cyborg, former underswabby of the White Weewoo, and the leader of the Mercenaries in the Guild Wars. You are being accused in severely violating the Pirate Code..." she paused there and turned to look at a small female meepit who was sitting on the railing a couple yards away, reading a book. "Do we even have a copy of the Code?"

"Copies," Justice said. "Bits and pieces that've been written out, yes. A lot of it is unwritten."

Hunty grimaced, nodding. She knew for a fact that a few more complicated paragraphs of the Code were written on the sugar bag in the galley. It was a long writing, which was why they still hadn't thrown the bag away, but kept refilling it in ports. Then again, the Code was an unwritten thing anyway.

"Particularly the point that forbids turning against your own," she said, knowing that this was, at least, a strong and one of the most widely known points. "You're a pirate; a former mutineer but still a pirate, and you lead an army against us."

"A group of mercs," Bloody Mary said matter-of-factly.

"He still ordered them to attack us," Hunty grumbled. "And I remember for a fact what the Code says about pirates who turn against their own."

That she did. Everyone who's as much as seen the Jolly Roger knows what pirates do to those who turn against them. The unsaid death sentence hung in the air. Strictly speaking, there wasn't even much to debate.

"But we're fair pirates," Hunty said. "Perhaps even too fair... we let you walk out of a mutiny pretty much clean, if you remember. Which, looking at the present situation, was a mistake. And we pay for our mistakes. I've paid for mine, by having to fight and defend my ship and my crew against you. You are still in debt. So, I'm listening. What do you got to say?"

[Bacon]

"Fraze, Amneiger here. I just wanted to let you know that I'll be listening in through the security system and will be sending any information that might be helpful."

"Fraze, Amneiger, this is Bacon. Let me know how things go down there, I've got three fighter squadrons on standby just in case." Bacon said from the cockpit of the Excalibur III, which was in the docking bay of Spacefleet HQ. The fighters wouldn't arrive at the surface very quickly, but late help's better than none at all.

It looked to Bacon like the three of them would be doing what they did best: Fraze would be sweet-talking more-or-less hostile rogues, Amneiger would be monitoring the security systems, and Bacon would be sitting around waiting. And watching movies on his shiny spaceship's 32 inch screen.

[Fraze]

Fraze was waiting for the ambassador to show up, when his pocket vibrated.
Fraze pulled out the small communicator. "Fraze, Amneiger here," came a familiar voice. "I just wanted to let you know that I'll be listening in through the security system and will be sending any information that might be helpful."
"I see," Fraze replied. "Thank you. I might not be able to receive it right away, but I appreciate it." If his skinsuit were over his head, he would be able both to send and receive communications directly through the suit. However, for the purposes of the negotiation, he didn't.

He was about to put the communicator back in his pocket, when it buzzed again and a second but equally familiar voice came through. "Fraze, Amneiger, this is Bacon. Let me know how things go down there, I've got three fighter squadrons on standby just in case."
This seemed like overkill to Fraze, but better safe and all that. "All right, thank you Bacon."

Fraze put the communicator back in his pocket. He went back to what he had been doing--reciting the formalities in his head. "On behalf of Spacefleet, I--no. On the behalf of Spacefleet, we--no. On Spacefleet's behalf, I would wish--no, like--to welcome you. I--no, we--hope that these negotiations can...what was it?...can be the start of a spirit of cooperation between our two groups--no, organizations. On Spacefleet's behalf, I would like to welcome you. We hope that these negotiations can be the start of a spirit of cooperation between our two groups. Got it!"
The lines sounded so awkward to him, as if whoever came up with them were afraid that something would horrible would happen otherwise. Still, he repeated them several more times until he was certain he had them down.
He saw the Mage ambassador approach, and straightened up. He was about to rattle off his lines, but she went first. "Shall we begin?" she asked, apparently a little unsure of herself.
Well, so much for the formalities. Fraze decided to skip the lines he had been practicing. "Of course. The conference room is right over here," he said, showing her to a nearby room with a guard on either side of the door on the outside.
Fraze showed Ikkin the replicator. "If there's anything you would like to drink, tell the machine and it should be able to make it for you."
"Please, sit anywhere," he added, gesturing to the large oval table. "As a gesture of good faith, we've decided to make some of Spacefleet's library available to the Mages. This includes the culture and history of a number of alien races, the NTWF's own history as observed by Spacefleet, and some of our declassified technical publications. In addition to this, we are willing to offer some of our civilian technology to the planet, especially farming equipment that would make agriculture much easier.
In return, Spacefleet is very interested in the Mages' magic. We would like the opportunity to study your magic, in order to understand it and possibly replicate it.
We are aware of the concerns of many that Spacefleet is primarily a military institution. I would like to say now that the 'Fleet does not wish to gain access to combative magic, but rather magic that is useful for peaceful purposes."

Fraze thought he had dragged on long enough, and waited for a response.

[Cyborg]

" What do I have to say? Well first I have to say yes I am a former mutineer, and yes I know what happens to mutineers, but you should know, I fear no death. You can not intimidate me, I have dealt with assassins, vampires, a war, the death of my family, my disfigurement, and my own death, I fear nothing now." Cyborg said as he stared Hunty straight in the eye. Of course everything he said was true, he feared nothing after his experiences, especially not death. " So what ever you do, keelhaul me, hang me, maroon me, I don't care I fear nothing. I must warn you though if you kill me you will lose a great ally, remember I am a former mercenary, I kill, I am ruthless, I destroy my enemies. Though if there is a way to make amends in any way, please tell."

[Goosh]

The melodrama of Cyborg's speech cut through Goosh's morning fog like a hot knife through ninja.

"He fears nothing?" he said to no one in particular. "Do you not prefer to live or something?" he asked the mercineer*. "If anything, all that stuff should have taught you the value of your own skin."

He listened as Cyborg finished his statement. "So what you're saying is, you don't care if you die, but we're the ones losing out on you, the person who is disrespective to his captain and crew, the person who changes allegiances as the drop of a hat, the self-serving mutineer who wants us to feel sorry for him?"

Goosh shook his head in disgust. "I say we keelhaul him fore and aft. We're better off without the pest."

_{* Mercineer = A traitorous mercenary. Of course, the two go together without saying.}

[Omni]

"Hey, Amnei!" Ethan transmitted. "Welcome back! I'm just training at the moment. Good luck with the negotiations.

"Siber, beg. … Good boy."

----------

Meanwhile, Brian was having some trouble with talking to Fraze.

"Negotiations are not to be disturbed."

"I just need to get in there for a minute," he said to the guards. "It's for important research."

"You cannot enter uninvited."

"…Oh forget it. SPEC OP FRA- oof!" He tried charging through the door, but was quickly restrained by the guards.

[Shadaras]

Pathos was interested in the negotiations, yes, but at the moment, he was more interested in ignoring the fact that he was on an Earth-like world that still looked like Earth. And that had magic. And, by all the flames, it had a phoenix. Not a Phoenix, thankfully, but even so.

Well, the phoenix wasn't Spacefleet's fault. The fox-girl had brought it with her. Idly, Pathos wondered how she kept the phoenix attached to her. But really, at the moment he was being entertained by the repeated attempts of some flunky to get into the negotiation room.

After watching the man get restrained, Pathos stepped out of the shadows that he'd been waiting in. "What do you want with Fraze, anyway?" he asked, taking hold of the young man's shoulder and spinning him around. Brain, the name-tag said. Pathos ignored the name for now. "Well?" he asked, after a moment had passed, and Brian wasn't saying anything. "What do you have to say to him?"

[Cyborg]

" I care if I die, but I don't fear death. You have no clue what it's like to die Goosh, I do, I have died, and I will die many more times. You are lucky to have not died, it is a very unpleasant experience. Yes you are losing out on me, think of what I have done, I have conquered death, I have lead a group of mercenaries, against many other armies. I am a former mercenary." Cyborg paused, still with the same emotionless face.
" I disrespect my captain and her crew now do I? Well actually I don`t considering Hunty is not my captain unless I join your crew. I change allegiance at the drop of a hat, wow that`s good, I was with the mages, and left to live out my dream of being a pirate, and then left to the merc`s because you basically forced Keng out. I left the merc`s to relive my dream. I change my allegiance when I have a good reason to do so. I don`t want your pity, I hate being pitied, for I have no reason to be pitied. "

[Bacon]

Sept 11, 2008 20:27:53 GMT -5 Goosh said:

_{* Mercineer = A traitorous mercenary.}

((I got a kick out of that, if only because at one point in the Merc RP, Cyborg actually betrayed the mercenaries, giving the phrase an additional meaning.))

"-down by 20 at the 30 yar- bjection, your honor, th- cheerleader, save th- erupt this program to bring you a special news bulletin. The Prime Minister of- eeeteee ffoone hoome- I'm not just a Time Lord, I'm th- oung Skywalker, you will die- in 1982, th- to survey these creatures in their natural env- GODZILLA!" The TV snapped off.

"I can't believe there's nothing on!" Bacon growled, adding before the ship could comment, "Nothing worth watching that I haven't already seen a thousand times. What good is a thousand channels if they're all reruns?"

"...care to play Halo 3?"

"Against an incredibly analytical computer? How stupid do you think I am?" Bacon snorted.

The ship paused for a moment, before saying, "You're bored, I'm bored. It will give us something to do."

"Fine, boot up your XBOX." Bacon grumbled, opening the glove box to grab the controller there.

[Jina]

((Jina, we're all up on the deck right now, so your bed is on the deck it seems.
---
Uhhh.... I suppose so, yeah. In fact, let's just make that a pillow on the deck.))

"You better be sober for this trial or else I'm telling Hunty," said the First Mate.

"Alcohol impairs judgement.We'll need all the rationality we can get to decide this."

"I don't drink in the mornings anyway, so nothing to worry about. Besides, I know nothing about all this, I'll pretty much be sitting here listening in to see what goes on."

"I just hope you still remember the rules."

"I do," said Jina.

She stood up, and noticed she had an itchy neck. Stupid pillow. I'd probably do better without one at all. She didn't throw it overboard however, because she needed somewhere to hide her dagger at night.

And then the trial began. Jina was listening with intent. This stuff's better than any drama I've seen before, and that's for sure. I won't even feel the need to play around with my dagger.

[Zylaa]

Zylaa listened to Cyborg's speech and snorted.

" I care if I die, but I don't fear death. You have no clue what it's like to die Goosh, I do, I have died, and I will die many more times. You are lucky to have not died, it is a very unpleasant experience. Yes you are losing out on me, think of what I have done, I have conquered death, I have lead a group of mercenaries, against many other armies. I am a former mercenary
" I disrespect my captain and her crew now do I? Well actually I don`t considering Hunty is not my captain unless I join your crew. I change allegiance at the drop of a hat, wow that`s good, I was with the mages, and left to live out my dream of being a pirate, and then left to the merc`s because you basically forced Keng out. I left the merc`s to relive my dream. I change my allegiance when I have a good reason to do so. I don`t want your pity, I hate being pitied, for I have no reason to be pitied. "

"Excellent! He doesn't fear death, then our punishment should be no big deal to him. Everyone's happy. Or emotionless, at least." Zylaa began pacing, directing a glare at Cyborg every now and then. "You say you'll show us ways of conquering death, powers that no-one has ever experienced before? Setting aside the fact that we may not want any corrupt powers, why should we believe you? You have changed allegiance at the drop of a hat, albeit a hat in a very low gravitational field." She paused to consider that metaphor. Darn these morning trials. Shaking off the thought, she continued.

"You have led ruthless mercenaries, yes. We've got a leader already, as you may have noticed. We have a crew. And to sail a ship you don't just need a good leader, you need a crew that trusts each other, a crew that's sure the other members won't just stab them in the back the minute the enemy makes a better offer, or when the whim takes them.
As for pity, don't worry about it, because I'm pretty sure you aren't gonna find any here."

Zylaa slowed her pacing somewhat. Be a bit less harsh, she counseled herself, this is a trial, not a rant. "Ways to make amends escape my mind at the moment, but if someone has any, I will gladly listen."

Because I could use a good laugh, she thought grimly as she leaned back against the railing.

((Also, was anyone else strongly reminded of Voldemort asking Dumbledore for a job at Hogwarts? XD Sorry Cyborg.))