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Post by Huntress on Oct 1, 2010 14:49:35 GMT -5
"Well, this is probably the hardest mission we've undertaken so far," Bloody Mary said. He'd stayed well out of sight while Zagora was aboard, but was now perched on Hunty's shoulder in his permanent advisor-position again. Not that he was currently giving very good advice. The captain sighed.
"You said that the last time," she said. "First when we got into the Leraye business, then when we got into the Spacefleet business..."
"Yeah, shame we can't ever mind our own business any more," retorted the meepit. "Speaking of the Fleet, your presence is required on the ramp."
Hunty shot a look at the unlikely couple fidgeting around hesitantly by the boarding ramp and despite her current turbulent mood, smiled. You had to hand it to pirates. They came and went and sometimes disappeared for months and got involved in all sorts of weird undertakings but when the need arose, they always showed back up in the place where they truly belonged. Or something like that, considering how the need had arisen only minutes before the lost lambs returned, but Hunty wasn't going to let a good sappy moment pass up.
She marched down to the ramp, trying hard to press her cheery smile under a stern captainy glare and succeeding only halfway.
"Well, you two certainly took your sweet time in finding us again," she said. "I was beginning to think that I'll have to gild the ship to make it easier to notice. Get a move on, there are two buckets and mops in the forecastle with your names on them, oh, and you'll be on the starboard braces until we get out of the bay, makes things a bit easier. I see you've brought yet another small fuzzy to join our on-board petting zoo?"
"This," Bloody Mary said flatly, glaring at Muskoka, "is a freegin' grizzly bear."
"I can see that," Hunty said smoothly, digging out a time-worn piece of parchment from the depths of her corset, "but as we have the blarf on the team, I can't very well categorize him as a large fuzzy, all factors considered, amirite?" Being a pirate, she didn't actually have a particularly systematic mind, but being a captain, she'd adopted one solely because she figured that it'd make leaderwork easier. "Right, so, he'll be entitled to two apples and half a bowl of food a day..." there was a pause, "okay, I'll triple that but if he needs anything extra, it'll come outta your wallet because we're not made of money, which, in fact, is our current problem, why I didn't just listen to my mother and become an accountant, I've no idea. Shiva's stall is empty right now, he can stay there, or you can keep him in the forecastle if he doesn't snore. Right! Everyone, we set sail in half an hour and I want to see my face reflecting off the deckboards by then because the gods of sea will get angry if we show up on their territory with some dirty old trough. Check the lines and the sails, see that everything's in proper working order, you know the drill."
She stepped aside to let the newcomers pass and scowled as a thought came to her. "So, how's the Fleet been treating you? Cos I know that some of their more oldschool officers have a few fixed ideas about "villainous scum"," this came with airquotes, "and if there's been any abuse, misuse, disuse or any other sort of use in your general direction, I'll send a diplomatic note they can play a symphony on, just give me a reason."
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Post by zarikrahia on Oct 2, 2010 0:33:44 GMT -5
Professor ZariKrahia Ailden was normally a fairly even-tempered person, which was probably why she had been assigned to be the "parole officer" of sorts for a pirate named Speck, who had apparently hacked into Spacefleet headquarters or something while possessed. However, she had learned of this assignment only an hour ago when the officer previously assigned came down with some kind of very contagious disease.
This, however, was not the problem.
"Tell me," she said peevishly, drumming her fingers on the dashboard, "why did you not tell me that not only was my ship out of clean power, but that there was approximately fifteen minutes left of the emergency fossil fuel supply?"
The computer didn't reply. It was only a computer. Must have a screw loose somewhere, she decided. Her or the computer, either one. She opened a drawer and pulled out a octagonal crystal, then got up out of her chair, crossed the room to the Power Meter, and stuck the crystal in a chamber.
"Charging."
Zari sighed. It'd be another another hour before the ship could take off, and a couple more before it could manage to fly any particular distance. Well, at least she'd managed to land the ship near the White Weewoo.
She stuffed a few tools in her bag and stuck her C22 Dart Pistol in it's holster. Then she grabbed her staff and hopped out the door, ignoring the perplexed glances the local townsfolk were giving her. She cloaked her ship and then walked toward the white Weewoo until she was standing close enough to be audible. The she took a deep breath.
"HELLO? IT THIS THE WHITE WEEWOO? I GOT SENT DOWN HERE TO WATCH SPECK OR SOMETHING. ANYONE HOME?" she yelled, waving frantically.
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Post by Kengplant on Oct 2, 2010 2:03:25 GMT -5
"Good to see you too Cap'n. As for the fleet giving me troubles... I was RUNNING the place right up until I got caught in an accident with a certain bike. Have you ever visited Tabloid Town in 643 B.C. ? Lovely forests back then. And I highly recommend their postal service which... apparently I invented. Either way, Fraze got my letter a good few thousand years after I sent it as per my request, which they could hardly refuse once they decided I was some sort of deity. Impressive for a small band of folks who didn't even have a calender yet. Eventually the fleet made a deal with some time travelers who picked me up. Good times. Now, it seems I have some swabbing to do eh? You folks haven't been missing the spot below the sink have you? No one ever cleans there."
As per usual of Keng's returns to the Weewoo, she immediately began assessing the cleanliness of the situation: checking for barnacles, dusty corners, etc. She had to admit, it wasn't as bad as she'd expected. Most of the spots she thought only she had ever bothered to clean had been tended to. Things had really shaped up on the Weewoo since the early days when Rider was still captain. Things were almost military now... right up to the point of the parties, the rodents and... well.. ok.. so they weren't really that militaristic at all.
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Post by Zylaa on Oct 2, 2010 13:19:00 GMT -5
Zylaa emerged onto the deck to find two new familiar faces onboard as well. And if that's an oxymoron, so be it. She smiled broadly at Keng and Speck as she caught the tail end of Hunty's orders.
"Everyone, we set sail in half an hour and I want to see my face reflecting off the deckboards by then because the gods of sea will get angry if we show up on their territory with some dirty old trough. Check the lines and the sails, see that everything's in proper working order, you know the drill."
Zylaa became extra cheerful as she realized that her two old crewmates had shown up just in time to split cleanup duty. Sure, they were down to a few hundred shinies in the treasury department, but with more crewmates coming along, they'd be sure to tackle whatever ridiculous obstacles got thrown their way this time.
Having had enough trouble with a timeskip of a couple hours the one time she was on Spacefleet, Zylaa wasn't particularly envious of Keng's adventures, though it sounded fun enough.
"You folks haven't been missing the spot below the sink have you? No one ever cleans there," finished Keng.
"I got that a few days ago," said Zylaa. "Had to clear out all the stashes of shinies the weasels had made. You would be amazed how many little corners this ship has." Sadly the purging of all of said corners had only amounted to an extra hundred shinies, but as that was about 1/3 of their finances right now, she wasn't going to complain.
Her ears pricked up as she heard a shout coming from the dock.
"HELLO? IT THIS THE WHITE WEEWOO? I GOT SENT DOWN HERE TO WATCH SPECK OR SOMETHING. ANYONE HOME?"
"No, this is the other blindingly white ship on the planet," Zylaa commented under her breath as she strode over to the railing.
"You've got the right ship," she called down. "Could you be more specific about the watching-Speck bit?" She turned as she said this so the question was addressed both to Speck and to Zari. She knew Speck had been locked up, but did this mean there was really going to be some Spacefleet law enforcement along for the ride? Might put a bit of a damper on pirating, that.
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Post by Speck on Oct 2, 2010 16:07:07 GMT -5
Not three minutes onboard, and we get assigned cleaning duty. Peachy, Speck groaned inwardly. She was about to walk over to a bucket and mop when she heard Hunty's last inquiry.
"Considering that they haven't stopped watching me since that little fiasco with the demons and such... I'm all right. There were a few security officers who taunted me, but that's no fault of Spacefleet itself: there are jerks everywhere," She scratched her ankle with her foot.
"Actually, Captain, I have something I'd like to discuss with you in priva -- " Speck froze as she heard the call from the dock. Wasn't it enough that they stuck this stupid bracelet on me? Now they've sent someone to dog my every move? There is no escaping that one mistake I made, is there.
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Post by Goosh on Oct 2, 2010 18:27:00 GMT -5
Goosh had followed Zylaa back to the deck. He waved and grinned at Speck and Keng as Hunty gave cleaning orders, which caused his smile to sag a little.
"HELLO? IT THIS THE WHITE WEEWOO? I GOT SENT DOWN HERE TO WATCH SPECK OR SOMETHING. ANYONE HOME?"
The voice was more interesting than cleaning, so Goosh approached the railing and saw a girl with feline ears standing by the ramp.
Zylaa asked what Goosh assumed everyone on the deck was thinking, something along the lines of: "What?"
"Not that it needs to be said," he muttered, turning back to face everyone else, "but...can we, you know, leave? Without her? Is that an option?"
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Post by zarikrahia on Oct 2, 2010 19:14:07 GMT -5
Zari look slightly taken aback. "Hi, er, I'm Professor Zari Ailden. Um, apparently the higher-ups want Speck watched just to check that she doesn't put any toes out of line since she hacked into something or rather and they don't really want anything hush-hush leaked to the masses because they tend to panic and make up conspiracy theories." she said, tugging on a strand of hair that had escaped her ponytail, feeling more and more awkward by the second.
"I don't think it's super-super-strict-watching-your-every-move-sleeping-outside-your-room-with-one-eye-open watching, it's just making sure you don't do anything potentially dangerous to security." she added hastily, "If they wanted that, they would have assigned Thigath or Fphlghr from Combat Class, not me. As far as I'm concerned the sooner this whole post-war fiasco is sorted out, the better."
Zari sighed, glancing at her shoes then back up at the Weewoo. If she could have it her way, this whole parole business would be scrapped entirely, but orders were orders and she'd never had much to do with the Pirates, who seemed like an interesting bunch, if a tiny bit scary. Well, she decided, I'll just have to roll with the punches. or kicks. Or gunshots.
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Post by Kengplant on Oct 2, 2010 22:03:37 GMT -5
Once Keng realized that the loud shouting voice belonged to Zari she figured she'd better go help sort it out.
"Well hello Zari! I don't suppose they'd accept it if I just let you go home and told them not to worry about it huh? They're pretty by the book in security. I can't really tell them off for it though, the book is there for a reason." Keng paused to consider the situation for a moment then turned to Huntress. "Cap'n, Professor Zari is a friend of mine from the fleet. She's responsib-... well she hasn't blown up the fleet yet, and without her lab equipment she really can't do much harm anyways. By fleet regulations I'd be her commanding officer and thereby can make sure she won't be a problem...
...
You know Cap'n... it's weird being a bottom rung on one ship and the top dog on another."
Keng then turned back to Zari. "Hey! How would you feel about learning to sail while you're here anyways?" as she said this she gave Huntress a wink. Naturally by 'learning to sail' she meant all the duties that came with it as well.
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Post by Huntress on Oct 3, 2010 9:13:00 GMT -5
Hunty leaned on the railing, eyeing Zari curiously. She more or less knew who the girl was, having learned bits and pieces about leading Fleet officers ever since they'd forged that kinda-sorta-alliance kind of thing, but like with most text-based studying, you don't actually remember much about it unless you have something to tie it to. Which was just another way of saying that she didn't, in fact, know who the girl was. But if Keng could vouch for her, then all the better.
"Okay, people, let's be diplomatic now," she said. "I don't like the international laws any more than you do, but this is a new world we live in and we've all been to the Fleet headquarters more than once so we've all seen what they can do to people who become a pain in their backside." The captain glanced at Goosh. "Oy, quartermaster, I know for a fact that we have a few extra hammocks somewhere. See if you can find it and set it up and get her acquainted in general, she'll be staying in the forecastle with y'all because that's about the only place she can stay in," she looked at Zari again, "unless she wants to sleep in either of the cabins down in the hold, which are a bit more private, but they're basically our prisoner cells so I wouldn't at all be surprised if someone up there on the moon caught wind of it and turned it against us." She sighed. "Anyway, welcome aboard, you'll be part of our small and slightly twisted yet very loving family while you're here, which means that you'll get the same grub and the same share of loot, except we don't in fact loot because we're naught but misunderstood and inherently charming group of rogues who always aim to follow the law. Sucks to be you, because the share can be pretty big on a good day." Hunty grinned widely. "Come on up, then. You'll be on the starboard braces too, you'll get the hang of it."
She cast a critical look over the entire deck, decided that it wouldn't fall completely apart without her around for five minutes and nodded briefly at Speck. "Come on, let's go to my cabin. I won't have much time for private talk while we're out at sea."
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Post by zarikrahia on Oct 3, 2010 13:12:04 GMT -5
Zari stood up as straight as possible, wide eyed. "Um, yes ma'am. I won't be any trouble ma'am." she said, gripping her staff so tightly her fingers started to hurt. She boarded the Weewoo with the air of someone who had never seen anything float without aid before stepping onto a hover-platform and looked around, feeling distinctly out of place.
"Um. Wow." Zari said slowly, reading all the information her wristcompy's visor could scrounge up about the various functions of various parts of the ship. "Sailing ships where I come from are...very different. Partially because there's only one habitable continent."
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Post by Speck on Oct 3, 2010 21:22:28 GMT -5
Speck frowned as the captain welcomed Zari on board. She knew that there wasn't much Hunty could do about dismissing her: any action made against Spacefleet orders would probably result in strain on pirate-Fleet relations. She didn't have to like Zari's presence, though.
"Come on, let's go to my cabin. I won't have much time for private talk while we're out at sea."
Nodding, Speck went to the captain's quarters. Once they were both inside, she faced Hunty. She kept the door within her range of sight, too, just in case someone came in to interrupt them. "I'll try to keep this short. I don't want to delay our journey any more than it already has been."
Sitting down, she lifted her pants leg, and took off her boot, revealing the tracking device, "Spacefleet issued me with this thing, before they let me leave their 'desert' headquarters. It's meant to track me on the planet's surface, though I wouldn't be surprised if it had other uses," Speck held eye contact with Hunty, "I'm suspicious of this Zari. It's possible she could be a spy for Spacefleet: why would they need to send someone down here to watch me if they already had this thing attached to my ankle?"
She sighed, replacing her boot, "I know my place on this ship doesn't make me entirely immune to Spacefleet protocol. Especially since I indirectly busted into their security and brought down their life support as those demons were invading the moon base. But doesn't this... um... Doesn't this violate some sort of treaty?"
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Post by Huntress on Oct 4, 2010 14:06:29 GMT -5
Hunty scrutinized the bracelet with an icy glare. As did Bloody Mary. It was a miracle of modern engineering that the thing survived this staredown.
"As far as I can tell, having a parole officer on your tail makes more sense, actually," she said, sitting down on the fancy if rickety chair by the old-fashioned cabinet that stood by the window. "There's so much magic on this planet that the bracelet's receiver could easily be tampered with... well, I don't know that for sure," she added thoughtfully, "but I bet that neither does the Fleet. Not to mention, parole officers are fair game. They can be gotten rid of, befriended, brought over to your cause, accidentally handcuffed together for zany antics, the works. Everyone knows that. The fleeters know that if they know anything at all. It's politics, but it's friendly politics. Whereas that bracelet..." she paused again, lost for words, "the thing is, it breaks the Code, sure enough. Except that the Code can't really be forced upon non-pirates unless they sign it. I'm not sure if it actually breaks any treaties, however. You did hack into their systems and shut down life support. If this'd been a similar situation on this ship, the guilty party would get the keel without much arguing."
"She was acting on your orders," Bloody Mary the everlasting devil's advocate pointed out.
"Yes and no, I never asked her to sabotage the life support system of the facility I was currently stuck in," the captain pointed back, "but yes, he's pretty much right. I take responsibility for all your actions, Speck. Means I also take responsibility for the pickle you're currently in. Which means," her eyes darkened a bit, "that I won't let neither the bracelet nor the parole officer become a problem in any way. Heck, they're our allies, on paper it should never be an issue."
"Again with the messy politics," Bloody Mary grumbled. "What happened to your straightforward thinking? Just give your boyboy a call, tell him to get rid of the bracelet and the officer and bury all remaining loose ends in piles of paperwork, problem solved."
"Yeeess, thank you for that refreshing approach," Hunty said dryly. "He just runs that place, he doesn't own it."
The meepit blinked. "There's a difference?"
"Remember when Rider owned the Weewoo and we sent her all the repairment bills?"
"Ah."
"It's a big place, is what I'm saying," Hunty said, leaning back on the chair. "Lots of officers who still think the old-fashioned way, lots of veterans and scientists whose word carries a lot of power and whose ships carry even more power. Do something that ticks enough people off, like letting a dangerous hacker roam the planet undetected, and the entire Fleet might break into a raging civil war, turn against itself within itself, eventually dissolve into factions and drop from an omnipresent military power to a bunch of small confused cliques that spend more time warring each other than meddling in planetdwellers' business."
There was a laden pause.
"Is this where I cackle evilly?" Hunty asked carefully.
"Quite so," Bloody Mary said.
"Well, as long as they're still on our good side and more or less have our backs, I'd rather keep them a meddly world power, thank you," the captain said, getting up. "Not to mention," she grinned at Speck, "we're on my ship. The captain is always the highest authority on board of their ship, whoever else might be on board, up to and including the World President. So ankle bracelet or not, anyone who has a problem with you needs to take it up with me, and people who take an issue up with me generally don't do it twice. And now I'd kindly like to see you on the starboard braces approximately five minutes ago, hup-hup-hup."
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Post by Speck on Oct 4, 2010 15:50:31 GMT -5
Speck gave Hunty a mock salute after she stood up, "Understood."
Just as she was about to open the door, she turned towards her captain, "Oh, cap'm? Is the gunner position still open? I'd like to apply, if it is. Let me know."
With that, she turned and left to go do her duties. She was slightly reassured of Zari's presence on the ship, but she still didn't trust the girl. Speck made the decision to steer clear of her "parole officer" at every opportunity she could as she picked up her mop and bucket. Strangely enough, her name was carved into both the mop's handle, and the bucket.
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Post by Goosh on Oct 5, 2010 6:48:57 GMT -5
"This can be your hammock," Goosh said to Zari. "It used to be Cyborg's. I'm sure it's not a hover-bed or a cryo-tube or whatever amazing hyphenated technology the Fleet has, but, uh, you can stow your bag under it."
He thought for a second. "Welcome to the Weewoo. I'm Goosh, the quartermaster. You'll probably be fine, as long as you stick to watching Speck and don't get in the way of our business. Hunty'll see to it that you don't die or anything. We won't try to stab you. Well, I won't."
Goosh tried to think of all the potential helpful tips and dire warnings one could benefit from aboard the ship. "You might want to keep your belongings--especially anything remotely shiny--out of sight from Zylaa's weasels. And the blarf, which is a, um, a thing, that, you know, we have. Stay away from him when he's hungry. We have a bear now, too, apparently. I don't know what he's like.
"I guess that's mostly it. Any questions?"
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Post by zarikrahia on Oct 5, 2010 17:58:50 GMT -5
"Hammock." Zari mused, eyeing it curiously. "Now that's another thing I haven't seen before."
At Goosh's advice about the weasels, her hand immediately flew to her visor and then the holster for her C22. The C22 was probably going to stay in it's holster since the Pirate seemed like an okay bunch, but the visor...and the foil-wrapped emergency rations in her bag...and Tantrum.... "I'm from Spacefleet, everything is shiny." she said weakly. "Depends what degree of shiny the Weasels react to. Most of the equipment I have with me is metal or metallic, so a little shiny."
Zari paused. "Will anyone have any objection to me having a few pieces of equipment with me- my visor, my laptop, the C22- so I'm not a load in a combat situation? The visor is for keeping in touch with base, so if someone throws me overboard I can send out a distress signal, the laptop shouldn't be any issue because the Weewoo has no computer systems I can mess with. I only have it in case Speck manifests crazy hacking abilities in any case. The only thing I can see anyone having any issue with is the C22..." she trailed off, pulling the C22 out of it's holster, taking out the ammunition and showing both to Goosh.
"They're darts filled with a sleeping potion." she explained. "I didn't want to bring any lethal weapons for obvious reasons, but I was wondering if anyone might have a problem with me being armed at all."
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